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Details
MOFFET, Thomas (1553-1604). Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum. London: Thomas Cotes for Benjamin Allen, 1634.
2o (295 x 184 mm). Large woodcut on title surrounded on three sides by various insects, 4 pages of woodcuts of insects at end, numerous woodcuts in text of hundreds of varieties of insects and small creatures. (Tear on lower margin crossing imprint repaired.) Contemporary English calf (rebacked with sheep). Provenance: Early notations on front pastedown; Rolle bookplate.
FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST ENTOMOLOGICAL BOOK PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND. Based partly on earlier unfinished writings by Conrad Gesner and the entomological notes of Edward Wotton. These had been acquired and partly combined by Gesner's assistant, Thomas Penny, prior to his death in 1589. Although Moffett completed it in 1589, the Theatrum insectorum was not published until 1634 because publication negotiations fell through. "To date, this was the best work of its kind and it set a new standard of accuracy in the study of the invertebrates" (Garrison-Morton). Garrison-Morton 288; Nissen ZBI 2852; STC 17993; Norman 1528.
2o (295 x 184 mm). Large woodcut on title surrounded on three sides by various insects, 4 pages of woodcuts of insects at end, numerous woodcuts in text of hundreds of varieties of insects and small creatures. (Tear on lower margin crossing imprint repaired.) Contemporary English calf (rebacked with sheep). Provenance: Early notations on front pastedown; Rolle bookplate.
FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST ENTOMOLOGICAL BOOK PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND. Based partly on earlier unfinished writings by Conrad Gesner and the entomological notes of Edward Wotton. These had been acquired and partly combined by Gesner's assistant, Thomas Penny, prior to his death in 1589. Although Moffett completed it in 1589, the Theatrum insectorum was not published until 1634 because publication negotiations fell through. "To date, this was the best work of its kind and it set a new standard of accuracy in the study of the invertebrates" (Garrison-Morton). Garrison-Morton 288; Nissen ZBI 2852; STC 17993; Norman 1528.