Gloriously accessible.
Iconotypes is a beautiful collector\'s object for fans of Natural history and illustrations of Butterflies and moths, as well as artists, designers, and bibliophiles..
This lavish volume intersperses contemporary maps showing the locations of each specimen, expert essays on the study of lepidoptery since Ancient Egyptian times, the development of taxonomy after Linnaeus, the roles of collectors and Natural history artists during the late 1700s to mid-1800s, and the steep decline of Butterflies and Moths over the last fifty years.
Vane-Wright gives an account of Jones\'s life, his motivation for collecting Butterflies and creating the Icones , and evaluates the significance of Jones\'s work.
Contextual commentary by specialist entomologist Richard I.
In this enhanced facsimile, Jones\'s historical references are clarified and modern taxonomic names are provided together with notes on which paintings serve as iconotypes.
For every specimen, Jones included the known species name, the collection, and the geographical location in which it was found.
Between the early 1780s and 1810, Jones, a wine merchant, painted in painstaking detail hundreds of species of Lepidoptera , drawing from his own collection and the collections of prominent amateur naturalists.
With Iconotypes , Jones\'s work is published for the first time, accompanied by expert commentary and contextual essays, and featuring annotated maps showing where each specimen was discovered.
Yet until now, it has never been published--the only existing manuscript copy is housed in the archives of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Icones contains finely delineated paintings of more than 760 species of Lepidoptera , many of which it described for the first time, marking a critical moment in the study of Natural history.
William Jones\'s Icones is one of the most scientifically important and visually stunning works on Butterflies and Moths ever created.
There\'s much here for specialists (lepidopterists; art historians) but lay readers too can savor an astonishingly beautiful \'pre-industrial butterfly world.\'-- Library Journal The first publication of Jones\'s Icones , a strikingly beautiful and significant achievement in Natural history.
A book as lovely as the creatures it depicts. . . .
Gloriously accessible
