Old Butterfly books

[bugboy]

Inspired by Zigzag_wanderer's recent thread on his new acquisition, I thought I'd post some images of my small collection of old butterfly books. I've been collecting them for several years, initially for colour plates which I love in these old books but I soon became fascinated by the text as well, sometimes simply by the almost poetic verse used to describe the subjects but also for the snapshots in the natural history and our understanding in them, even the occasional arrival of a 'new species'.

This first post is my newest acquisition:

It's undated but the text suggests written in the early 20th century (there's a brief description of the Large Blue pupae but no mention of it's association with ants and there's no mention of the Chequered Skipper's occurrence in Scotland for example). The author is written as W. E. Kirby which is almost certainly a typo, a William Forshell Kirby was a prominent entomologist of the time (1844 - 1912) who's name crops up elsewhere in my collection.

The plates are attractive and as with some other books of the time silver rather than white was used on several of the Fritillaries, making them very eye catching but difficult to photograph accurately, especially with flash.

This book lists a total of 74 butterflies although many of these are already stated as being probably extinct (Purple Edged Copper, Mazerine Blue etc.) Others we now know not to be true species any more, in this book we had 3 species of Brown Argus:

and there was another species of Copper too:

In interesting un-named Small Copper ab. in the top left.

The rutila being described is almost certainly L. dispar rutilus but it's occurence in Kent is, well
Most of the Common names are recognizable but a few could be misleading to todays eye's, the Large Heath is called the Marsh Ringlet and the Gatekeeper is referred to as the Large Heath.

Most of the natural history such as foodplants etc. is pretty accurate too, although there are expected notable holes in knowledge such as the Large Blue lifecycle. Some of the foodplants listed are however a bit.... "really?" The Duke of Burgundy is said to feed on Primrose and Docks, the Brown Hairstreak 'feeds on Blackthorn, Birch, and similar trees' (The Birch foodplant being how it came about it's species name, Betula being the genus to which Birch's belong). These errors are all part of the charm of these old books though

Along with the butterflies there are also descriptions and images of 987 moths, and almost comically at least with the images, Kirby dipped his toes into the murky world of Micro lepidoptera. I'm not sure how anyone could have Identified the smallest moths from the images which seem to be lifesize.

Anyway I hope some of you find this as interesting as me and if anyone else has ald books they want to share I'd love to some 'best bits'

[Allan.W.]

interesting thread Bugboy ,i,d certainly like to see a Small Copper like that .....................I do wonder if he,d seen such an individual himself !
Particularly impressed with the Fritillary undersides in sil ver ! As for Large Coppers in Kent in the "Fens"......................hmmm !
But i do wonder if some were genuinely caught ,in a time (mid-19th cent ) when foreign species were released at certain sites ,and the collectors
were tipped off ,and then if they were lucky they could catch various odd species ,at certain sites ,one that immediately springs to mind is of two Cardinals caught at the Devils Kneading trough at Wye ,Kent , quite ridiculous ,i would think ! This band of dealers (or whatever they called themselves !) were known as the Kentish Bucaneers and were pretty notorious in their day.
Regards Allan.W,

[Pete Eeles]

Good stuff buggy! While I have an electronic copy of this book, there is nothing like holding the real thing!

The author is written as W. E. Kirby which is almost certainly a typo, a William Forshell Kirby was a prominent entomologist of the time (1844 - 1912) who's name crops up elsewhere in my collection.

W.E. Kirby and W.F. Kirby are unrelated (as far as I know) entomologists For example:

Kirby, W.E. (1906) Butterflies and Moths of the United Kingdom. George Routledge, London.
Kirby, W.F. (1889) European Butterflies and Moths. London.
Kirby, W.F. (1896) A Hand-book to the Order Lepidoptera. London.

The rutila being described is almost certainly L. dispar rutilus

One and the same!

but it's occurence in Kent is, well

Indeed - although there was a land bridge after the last ice age There's a great diagram in:

Pullin, A.S., McLean, I.F.G. & Webb, M.R. (1995) Ecology and conservation of Lycaena dispar: British and European Perspectives. Ecology and Conservation of Butterflies. Chapman & Hall, London.

... reproduced here:

Cheers,

- Pete

[Lee Hurrell]

Indeed - although there was a land bridge after the last ice age

The area was called Doggerland, I believe. Fishing Trawlers have brought up archaeology from the sea bed from when it was inhabited.

Fantastic thread, Bugboy!

[bugboy]

Thanks Allen, yes some of those pesky unscrupulous early 'enthusiasts' did unfortunately muddy the water somewhat!

Thanks for the extra information Pete, what were the chances of two men with nearly identical names both publishing books on entomology at the same time, a bit of internet digging found the others full name: William Forshell Kirby & William Egmont Kirby.

I have a theory that our Swallowtail used that land bridge to colonize the UK, visually it looks more like P. machaon machaon than it does to P. m. gorganus, just a theory though. Obviously the land bridge was the main route of colonisation for much of our wildlife after the last ice age and It's difficult to argue against our native butterfly list has changed much before the first enthusiasts started to take notice of them. During the warm period before the little ice age we could well have had many more species, not least because humans had yet to destroy most of the habitats. The little ice age followed by the industrial revolution could well have been a double whammy for some of the more sensitive species. Perhaps early records of species like Purple Edged Copper were the tail end of this die off, all speculation of course.

Thanks Lee, North sea fishermen regularly land bits and pieces of Mammoth too
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tonight I jump forward to the middle of the twentieth century with a book by Vere Temple, a lady with a wonderful way with words as well as being a talented artist.

This book isn't a simple list of every species with accompanying text, but rather the author takes the reader on a trip around some of her favourite places to point out some of the butterfly inhabitants, starting off in the spring and traveling through different habitats through the seasons. I'm quite sure she describes many places some of us still visit today .

As I said her way with words is delightful, although some of the facts stated are not quite accurate, the "continuously brooded Meadow Brown" for example

Some interesting tidbits can be found elsewhere in the text, this is the only place I've seen the Glanville Fritillary referred to as the Isle of Wight Fritillary, not a great stretch of a name to come up with though. Also below that she's rather disparaging of the poor little Duke of Burgundy

In another segment she talks about the Red Admiral where she muses about recent evidence suggesting it's adapting to hibernate in the UK as well as pointing out contemporary evidence of southward migrations.

and some lovely historical words from Padfields neck of the woods

[Lee Hurrell]

Tonight I jump forward to the middle of the twentieth century with a book by Vere Temple, a lady with a wonderful way with words as well as being a talented artist.

As I said her way with words is delightful, although some of the facts stated are not quite accurate, the "continuously brooded Meadow Brown" for example

You're not wrong - what lovely prose!

WIth regard to Meadow Browns, I have an unproven hunch that they squeeze in a second brood during their six month flight period. It needs some investigation though! This could be what the author meant by continuously brooded.

Best wishes,
Lee

[bugboy]

Hi Lee. I've had similar thoughts (as I'm sure others have had) with regards to the Meadow Browns lifecycle. Last year I found a freshly emerged female at Mill Hill on October 19th and a mating pair on the 20th at Mill Hill in 2018. I did wonder whether they were multi-voltine further south in their range but the only snippet of info I could find is that they aestivate during the heat of the summer. Pete's book suggests the larvae are able to hibernate at various instars which would definitely have the effect of prolonging the emergence. I guess eggs laid in October might make it to second instar before winter arrives and then might have to slow down again in a hot summer when food sources aren't as lush as spring grass, leading to an very late emergence?

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This is an offering from the other Kirby, William Forshell, who's colour plates I absolutely love. If you have a spare few hundred quid collecting dust you can pick up an original hardback copy from 1882 on one of those online auction sites. Over the years though I've picked up a few issues of it's serialisation, each containing 5 pages including 1 of the colour plates. The book apparently contains around 70 plates, I only have issues 1 to 9 so there's a few to find yet. I'm not sure what came first though, the book or the serielisation, the ones I have are undated.

The text is pretty straight forward, certainly none of the elegant prose of Vere Temple, but being a serielisation it does have some interesting advertisements on the back page:

Chlorodyne sounds like a wonderful cure all, a soothing mixture of alcohol, cannabis and chloroform if google is to be believed, no wonder it made you feel better!

[petesmith]

Chlorodyne sounds like a wonderful cure all, a soothing mixture of alcohol, cannabis and chloroform if google is to be believed, no wonder it made you feel better!

Indeed! Medicines just ain't what they used to be. Wonder how COVID19 would cope with a bit of this stuff?

[bugboy]

I reckon that must be where Trump gets his medical advice from Pete

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This is my 1867 copy of Colemans book, the first edition came out 7 years earlier. Reading through it, I find it somewhat reassuring to find some embryonic debate about the need to kill butterflies for collecting. Some of the views and comments are a little naïve to our more educated modern minds, but I do like the fact it was at least being questioned over 150 years ago and his musings over if only there was some other way to preserve their beauty...

In the individual descriptions, the distributions of some species are somewhat poignant in places.

The Swallowtail:

The Large Copper:

The Large Blue:

The Wood White:

The Heath Fritillary (still known as the ‘Pearl Bordered Likeness Fritillary’ at this time):

And the opening line to the Pearl-bordered Fritillaries description could almost bring a tear to your eye!

The Glanville Fritillary was still a mainland species, even being recorded up on Scotland according to the author, surely erroneous?

Another, lets say ‘suspicious’ record comes with the Lulworth Skipper who’s description ends:

For those not familiar with UK geography, the Shenstone in question is just north of Birmingham!

In the Brimstone description, an exciting new discovery is outlined:

And later a curious conclusion reached about the Cleopatra in southern Europe.

Of course only curious with the benefit of a 100 years + of hindsight, the reasoning at the time clearly made complete sense.

Of course there was no Essex Skipper at this time, that was another 22 years away from being discovered in the UK

It’s also interesting to read about the ‘hybernating’ habits of the Painted Lady (also repeated in the Red Admirals description)

[David M]

...Medicines just ain't what they used to be. Wonder how COVID19 would cope with a bit of this stuff?

My God, it's a wonder anyone survived back in those days - chloroform, cannabis, morphine....just to treat coughs?

Wonder if it would have extinguished coronavirus?

[millerd]

My God, it's a wonder anyone survived back in those days - chloroform, cannabis, morphine....just to treat coughs?

Well, it's not all that long ago that ordinary Victory V lozenges contained 2% chloroform and 0.5% ether... I used to buy them from ordinary sweet shops when I was a teenager. I'm not sure when they changed the formula! And gripewater (as given to babies afflicted with wind) had 4% alcohol as well as the caraway that was supposed to deal with the problem.

Dave

[bugboy]

And lets not forget the cosmetics in use during the victorian era containing wonders like Mercury, Lead, Arsenic and Ammonia amongst other chemicals, one wonders how Europeans didn't go extinct!

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In the 1906 edition of Colemans book very little has changed, the text is for the most part unedited, Painted Ladies and Red Admirals were still said to hibernate in the UK and the Cleopatra & Brimstones were still one in the same species.

The main changes are the addition of a few new species. A very large new visitor called The Archippus had recently arrived from across the Atlantic “three specimens being taken in England in 1877, and many others since then”.

Off course a new species of Skipper had now been identified, here named the Lineola Skipper. The linea mentioned is of course the then species name for the Small Skipper.

There was no mention of Valesina SWF in the earlier edition, but in this edition, it finally gets a mention, with the suggestion that it’s only recently started to appear.

The final ‘new species’ is the Weaver’s Fritillary, Coleman noting several singletons cropping up all over the place, none of these were genuine migrants though, probably being the product of over eager enthusiasts of the day.

[bugboy]

Another book I have two editions of is Edmund Sanders ‘A Butterfly Book For The Pocket’, a first edition from 1939 and a 1955 reprint. The 1939 is actually in better condition and with superior illustrations. Like some of the previous books, silver paint is used for the underside of the larger Fritillaries, and to much better effect than Coleman's in my opinion. Unlike the others it is also used for other species (except ironically the Silver-spotted Skipper) and since each species also has larvae and pupae illustrated, some of the Nymphalid pupae are also spotted with silver.

In the newer edition this silver colouration seems to have gone a bit array, most notably with the Queen of Spain Fritillary.

Although it’s primarily just a reprint, there is one addition in the newer edition, a new type of Clouded Yellow had been identified 10 years earlier, in this book named the Scarce Clouded Yellow.

Most of the text would be usable by a casual observer today, the images are accurate (probably better than my 1970’s edition of the observers guide), as are the natural habits. Distributions are off course somewhat inaccurate compared to today though: The Pearl-bordered Fritillary was unknown in Ireland but curiously the Heath Fritillary was said to be found there.

The Chequered Skipper at this time was only known in its east midlands English colonies and in this period of butterfly history we had only one species of Brown Argus with both salmacis and artaxerxes relegated to forms or abs depending on what sentence you read

There is also a rather confusing description of the Comma’s generational lifecycle, even knowing the facts it’s difficult to decipher this:

The index also provides a few snippets of interesting info too (interesting to me anyway), being part glossary and translating a few of the scientific names. I’m far from an expert in Latin but I do know a few words, poly for instance means many, so we have polychloros = many coloured, polygonia = many angled & polyommatus = many eyed. Others which I can only presume to be correct: aethiops = blackamoor (a very ‘British colonial’ name methinks, not very politically correct today!), agestis = rural, Apatura = deceiver, Aphontopus = showing no feet, Carterocephalus = broad head (suitable for a Skipper), Cyaniris = blue rainbow, epiphron = prudent, Eumenis (genus of the Grayling at the time) = friendly (very appropriate), Limentis = marsh dweller (odd for a woodland butterfly) and Vanessa = brilliant.

[bugboy]

This one's from 1913 and written by one of the Kirby's but I've only recently noticed the preface, indisputable proof that there were two Kirby's writing about butterflies either side of the turn of the twentieth century.

Despite the title, its mostly a book in reality, just a few pages noting the more whimsical use and mention of butterflies in earlier literature. As far as the butterflies go every species known to occur in the UK gets a mention in the text (although not every one is illustrated), plus a random selection of continental species.

The Brown Argus's are in the middle of an identity crisis from the looks of things in this book

as is the Large Heath who's common name changes halfway through the text, presumably an error made by Egmont whilst finishing the book?

[Pete Eeles]

as is the Large Heath who's common name changes halfway through the text, presumably an error made by Egmont whilst finishing the book?

I think the Marsh Heath is what we now know as ssp. scotica and the Marsh Ringlet ssp. polydama.

Cheers,

- Pete

[bugboy]

Thanks for that extra info Pete, that does make sense

In 1949 Vere Temple was back with another book, a thin volume of only 47 pages.

Like her last book it wasn’t a standard ID guide but every species once again does get a mention somewhere in the text. The writing is quite whimsical at times and there’s a few errors, either by the author or the editor. As with her last book, Vere steadfastly uses the name Isle of Wight Fritillary for the Glanville, I’m pretty sure she was alone in this.

The illustrations are a mixture of originals by the author and reproductions of older paintings. I get the impression from her books that Vere was a lovely lady who simply enjoyed being in and around nature, perhaps not an expert but seemingly eager to learn as much as she could on her subjects .

I'm pretty confident there's no PBF in the middle image ;-)

[bugboy]

In 1871 an Edward Newman published his book. As far as I know, no relation to the L. Hugh Newman of the 40’s and 50’s who became known as ‘The Butterfly Farmer’ from numerous tv and radio appearances.

This particular book has no colour plates, all illustrations are black & white. Despite this they are very accurate and all species are readily identifiable. The lack of colour doesn’t always work though, a helice Clouded Yellow next to a normal form feels a little redundant.

These were the days before butterfly migration was a known thing so we had several more species that apparently hibernated as adults (edusa was the then species name for the Clouded Yellow). This hole in knowledge did lead to some confusion, no one was able to figure out at the time what was going on with Painted Ladies.

Under the Comma’s picture a certain Mrs Hutchinson gets a brief mention, surely Mrs. Emma Hutchinson whose own work rearing many species of Lepidoptera provided the groundwork for later naturalists and who the hutchinsoni Commas are named after.

The various common names used are a mixture of familiar and not so, ‘Small Ringlet’ = Mountain Ringlet, ‘Northern Brown’ = Scotch Argus and of course the Gatekeeper was the Large Heath (In these days a heath didn’t have such a specific meaning as it does nowadays, it was simply any patch of waste grassland). Our Large Heath gets a couple of names depending on what form is being discussed, I’ve no idea who Rothlieb is:

There was also a second species of Grizzled Skipper, the taras ab. being presumed a different species.

[zigzag_wanderer]

Top collection of books you have there bugboy and thanks loads for taking the time to highlight some of the interesting historical detail.

I'm always fascinated by old reference books, particularly on natural history and the changes through time.

I'm guessing I'm not alone on here by having been being intrigued/inspired by the Charles Tunnicliffe illustrated Ladybird nature books. There was sometimes an unlikely juxtaposition of flora and fauna in order to show everything, but the illustrations are truly beautiful. The most evocative for me was the kingfisher looking down wistfully on the large eels winding their way through a mysterious woodland stream in What To Look For In Autumn.

[Allan.W.]

I,m with you on the Tunnicliffe illustrated Ladybird books " What to look for " series ,Zig-Zag ,i,ve still got mine ..............
lovely little books !
And i also have Edward Newmans butterflies ( you,re right Bugboy ,no relation to L Hugh ) ,a very good read as is his" British Moths" ,without looking ,i believe he comments on the Pearl- Border frit ,as common in any British woodland ,in some it swarms ! how times change.!
Regards Allan .W.

[bugboy]

Thanks guys, I'm really enjoying flicking through these books some of which like the one below I've only recently obtained (the lack of traveling last year meant I had more savings than is usual ). There are several of these books which state the PBF as 'common', 'widespread' & 'numerous' Allan, rather poignant to read

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This newly acquired book is also in all likelihood the oldest in my collection. Although not dated it seems to have been first published in 1859. Unfortunately it is showing its age, the spine’s nearly disintegrated leaving it hanging by a few threads from being in two halves. Hopefully when things return to some sort of normality, I can get it repaired but, in the meantime, I’m handling it extremely carefully.

The colour plates a beautiful (though unfortunately defaced by the library the book once belonged to) and the text is fascinating to read, filled as it is with many inaccurate presumptions but also snippets of fascinating contemporary anecdotes. The title page shows a Small Tortoiseshell ab. which is presumed to be a hybrid between that and a Camberwell Beauty, and a couple of extreme Small Copper abs. here going by the common name ‘Small Meadow Copper’, one of three common names given to it at different points in the text, I’m not sure editors had been invented at this stage .

The classification was still very much in its infancy, along with the ‘Great Swallow-tailed Butterfly’ the Family Papilionidae also contained two other subfamilies. The Brimstone and Clouded Yellows belonged to the now defunct Rhodoceridi and all the other Pierids in Pieridi.

Here the author explains why the name Bath White is probably a bit of a misnomer

The Arran Brown here goes by the name Scarce Scotch Argus but even at this time its placement on the British list is questioned. However he goes on to suggest there may well be other species of Erebia tucked away in the less explored bits of the countryside, a fair presumption at the time. This is also the first of two Scotch Argus’s described. The author splits up the Brown Argus into three species and refers to artaxerxes also as the ‘Scotch Argus’ although this is changed in the index to ‘Small Scotch Argus’

There’s a wonderful segment in the Purple emperor text outlining the discovery of the larvae and a sad story of how two males met their maker whilst sheltering from a rainstorm. It ends with an explanation of the genus name.

The Large Tortoiseshell goes by a grander name in this book:

Five species of Copper are listed with the Small Copper simply referred to as the ‘Copper Butterfly’ this time. (In an appendix it’s finally referred to in inverted comma’s as the ‘Small Copper’).

The Scarce Copper apparently uses Golden Rod as a LHP?

And the Chequered Skipper feeds on Plantain. These errors are I imagine a product of miscommunication between various enthusiasts of the time.