Tufted Caterpillar, Moths and Beetle on a Leafy Branch, Albin Plate 89, 1720

A tufted caterpillar, two moths and a beetle on a leafy branch, 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 Mrs Etheldred Hovel Wife of the Most Rever.d Father in God His Grace the Lord Arch Bishop of Canterbury. this Plate is humbly dedicated by Eleazar Albin."

A single branch rises through the sheet with broad, toothed leaves eaten into rounded holes. A lilac caterpillar with yellow hair and dark tufts at each end feeds on a leaf at the left. A deep red brown moth with pale spots sits at the upper left and an ocher moth at the right. A small slender winged insect is set at the top right, a dark beetle at the lower left and a pale segmented pupa 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 "89" 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 89 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 right edge. Slight wear at the bottom left corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left.

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