NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. A Complete, Original, Descriptive Account of the Life-History of Every Species Occurring in the British Islands, Together with the Habits, Time of Appearance, and Localities.

First edition, first printing. Two volumes. Signed by the author. Publisher's original blue cloth, ruled and with titles in blind to the upper boards, titles in gilt to the spines, in dustwrapper. Folio. Illustrated with 60 full page colour plates and 5 plates in monochrome. An excellent near fine set, the bindings firm with some bumping and mild rubbing to the extremities, the spines a touch rolled, the cloth and gilt bright and fresh. The contents, with the bookplate of the pioneering wildlife photographer Eric J. Hosking to the front pastedown of volume I, and just a little spotting to the closed text block edges, are otherwise clean throughout. Complete with the good rubbed, nicked and torn dustwrappers, volume I with large chips and tears to the spine tips and fold corners, volume II much less so. The spines are uniformly toned.

Inscribed by the author in black ink on the front endpaper of each volume "F.W. Frohawk / July 1925 / Best wishes and good luck". Scarce thus. A groundbreaking work by the zoological artist and lepidopterist F. W. Frohawk (1861-1946). Twenty-five years in the making, Frohawk's magisterial illustrated record of all the life stages of British Butterflies, was completed and submitted to his publishers in 1914; however, the outbreak of war, subsequent paper shortages and recovery meant that first publication was delayed until 1924. (Peter Marren, Rainbow Dust: Three Centuries of Delight in British Butterflies, 2015).