Red and Black Banded Moths and Caterpillar, Albin Hand-Colored Plate 80, 1720

Two moths with red and black banded hindwings and their caterpillar, 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 THE MOST NOBLE Henrietta Dutchess of Newcastle This Plate is humbly dedicated by Eleazar Albin."

A tall leafy branch rises through the sheet, its long, narrow, toothed leaves bitten into in several places. A long pale gray caterpillar with a red mark lies along a stem near the top. At the upper left a large moth spreads gray patterned forewings over red hindwings banded in black. At the lower left a second moth shows black and white banded forewings over red hindwings, also banded in black. A dark red chrysalis lies 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 plate number "LXXX" is engraved in roman numerals at the top right. The insects are keyed with small engraved letters (a, b, c and so on); no species names are printed.

The sheet is plate 80 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.

Noticeable uneven toning. Marked handling soiling along the left edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right. One larger brown mark.

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