John Obadiah Westwood (1805-1893)

John Obadiah Westwood (1805-1893)

The Cabinet of Oriental Entomology; being A Selection of some of the rarer amd more eautiful species of insects, natives of India and the adjacent islands, the greater portion of which are now for the first time described and figured. London: Bradbury & Evans for William Smith, [1847-]1848. 4 (272 x 206mm). 42 hand-coloured lithographic plates, some heightened with gum arabic, after Westwood. Near-contemporary half calf, spine in six compartments with raised bands, red morocco lettering-piece in the second, light brown morocco lettering-piece in the fourth, the others with repeat decoration in gilt by D. Batten of London (scuffing to extremities, joints slightly split). Provenance: Herbert Druce (armorial bookplate); F.T. Valck-Lucassen (armorial bookplate).

FIRST EDITION, AND RARE AT AUCTION: the most recent copy recorded as having sold at auction was in these rooms in April 1986. As Westwood points out in his preface, in 1847 there were "no works expressly devoted to the Insects of India, except the single volume published by Mr. Donovan [An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of India], nearly fifty years ago". A surprising state of affairs when "our cabinets, owing to the zeal with which this branch of Zoology is pursued by many Entomologists in those regions, teem with novelties which would alone form the materials of many volumes". He goes on to point out that the present work is intended as "a pictorial illustration of the larger and more splendid species" in an attempt to attract attention in "the Indian drawing-room" and persuade more people in India to take up entomology. Nissen ZBI 4378.