Looper Caterpillars and Moths on Broad Leaved Branches, Albin Plate 96, 1720

Looper caterpillars and moths on two leafy branches, 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 Eliz: Edgley Hewer eldest daughter of S.r Simeon Stuart of Hantshire Bar.t This Plate is humbly dedicated by Eleaz.r Albin".

A twig with broad, rounded, toothed leaves fills the upper half, one leaf bitten away at the edge, with a slender looper caterpillar stretched along the twig. A mottled moth with scalloped wings sits at the upper left and a pale moth with scalloped wing edges at the right. A second sprig with smaller leaves below carries a twig-like caterpillar, with a brown moth at the left and an orange brown moth 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 "96" is written by hand in ink at the top left 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 96 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 left and top edges. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left and right.

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