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In 1796 Sturm published the catalog of his own insect
collection, from which we have 34 for sale listed. It also
is quite small, only 14 cm. (5 1/4 in.) tall. As a result of
his work and expanding network of contacts with
entomologists and other scientists, his collection grew
so rapidly that he issued an enlarged second edition only
four years later, in 1800, and eventually a third in 1826
and a fourth in 1843. His became one of the largest and
most valuable private collections in Europe, consulted
and cited by entomologists throughout the scientific
world.
Swainson Butterflies
Zoological Illustrations by William Swainson.
Lithograph with hand colouring
c. 1820
Sheet 222 x 139 mm
£90 each
Although his particular fascination was beetles
(Coleoptera), Sturm had wide-ranging interests in
natural history and became a founding member of the
Naturhistorische Gesellschaft zu Nürnberg in 1801.
As the measurements of many of his publications
indicate, most of Sturm's engravings were very small.
He wanted his works to be accessible and inexpensive,
unlike the beautiful but over-sized and pricey "coffeetable"
folios available only to the wealthy. Wilfred
Blunt and William T. Stearn note (The Art of Botanical
Illustration, 1994, p. 258-60): " Engravings of the
German flora existed already; but, as Sturm wrote in
1796, ‘some of them are badly drawn and coloured;
some have been broken up and dispersed; some are only
to be found in large and splendid publications which
often even the lover of botany does not get a chance of
seeing once in a lifetime.' He thus deliberately chose
this minute format in order to make a knowledge of the
German flora available by pictures to as many as
possible and as cheaply as possible. Despite their
smallness, they carry a surprising amount of detail."
Amphrisius Butterfly
Memmon Butterfly
Oriental Emerald Butterfly
Surinam Emerald Butterfly
Round-winged Emerald Butterfly
Athama Butterfly
Marius Cinna Butterfly
Burchells Yellow Butterfly
Buff-spotted Blue Butterfly
Marius Thetys Butterfly
Euterpe Terea Butterfly
Papilio Evander Butterfly
Leachian Colias Butterfly
Godart’s Colias Butterfly
For individual images please contact us via:
info@sandersofoxford.com
William Swainson, 1789 - 1855, was an English
ornithologist, entomologist, conchologist and most
notably an artist. He was born in London, the eldest son
of John Timothy Swainson, an original fellow of the
Linnean Society, the world's oldest extant biological
society. William joined the Army Comissariat and was
deployed to Malta and Sicily and studied the
ichthyology of western Sicily. He was forced by ill
health to return to England and followed in his father's
footsteps to become a fellow of the Linnean Society in
1815. The following year he traveled in Brazil and
amassed a collection of over 20,000 insects, 760 bird
skins and other specimens. Apart from adding to the