Bristly Caterpillars and White Moths on Thorny Sprigs, Albin Plate 87, 1720

Bristly caterpillars and white moths on two thorny sprigs, an original hand colored copper engraving of 1720 from Eleazar Albin's A Natural History of English Insects. The plate has no title caption; the lettering engraved below the image is a dedication: "To Thomas Cowslad Esq.r this plate is humbly Dedicated by Eleazar Albin."

Two sprigs with lobed, toothed leaves are set one above the other, the upper one with a long thorn. The upper sprig carries a dark bristly caterpillar marked with red spots and a white tuft, with white moths drawn in fine outline at the left and right and a red brown chrysalis at the right. The lower sprig carries a second bristly caterpillar marked in red and white, with further white moths at the left and right, one with dark wing tips, and small chrysalises at the lower left and lower right.

At the lower right below Albin's name the engraver signs, faintly, H: Terasson, Sculp, London, (Sculp, short for sculpsit, engraved it). The number "87" is written by hand in ink at the top right of the sheet; no engraved plate number is visible. The insects are keyed with small engraved letters (a, b, c and so on); no species names are printed.

The sheet is plate 87 of Eleazar Albin's A Natural History of English Insects, published in London in 1720. The title page of the book reads "A NATURAL HISTORY OF ENGLISH INSECTS, Illustrated with a Hundred Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from the Life: And (for those who desire it) Exactly Colored by the Author ELEAZAR ALBIN, Painter", with the imprint "LONDON: Printed for the Author, and sold by William and John Innys at the West End of St Paul's. MDCCXX." The book thus offered its plates colored by the author for those who desired it. Albin was a painter and naturalist working in London.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom edge. Slight wear at the bottom left corner.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.