Caterpillars and Moths on a Lobed Leaf and Whorled Stem, Albin Plate 97, 1720

Caterpillars and moths on a broad leaved stalk and a slender whorled plant, 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 in script: "To Mrs Sarah Elizabeth Bridges of Soho Square This Plate is humbly dedicated by Eleaz.r Albin".

Above, a stalk carries broad, lobed, toothed leaves, one eaten through in holes, with a hairy brown caterpillar climbing the stem. A finely marked pale moth sits at the upper left, a pale moth at the right and a dark red chrysalis below it. The lower half gives a slender plant with narrow leaves in whorls, with a striped looper caterpillar climbing the stem, a small dark moth at the left, a moth mottled in brown and yellow at the right and a chrysalis at the lower right.

No artist's or engraver's credit is lettered on this sheet beyond Albin's own name in the dedication. The number "97" 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 97 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. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner.

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