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 (Description) 

Author: Coleman, W. S. (William Stephen).
Title: British Butterflies, Figures and Descriptions of Every Native Species, with an Account of Butterfly Development, Structure, Habits, Localities, Mode of Capture and Preservation.
Publisher: London, George Routledge & Sons, no date (1860). First edition. 
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 " X 5 ".
Pages: vii-179 pages + catalogue.
Binding: Attractive and very good original Victorian full cloth binding with beautiful gilt decorations (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Good to very good content (bright, tight and clean, some light foxing and staining - as shown, small tear repaired by a previous owner on the lower margin of plate 3 (III) - as shown).
Illustrations: Beautifully illustrated with 16 full page plates, of which 14 are color printed by Edmund Evans. (Complete). 

Estimate: (Scarce with practically no other copy in this binding variant available worldwide).

The book: Rare and attractive First Edition of British Butterflies, Figures and Descriptions of Every Native Species, with an Account of Butterfly Development, Structure, Habits, Localities, Mode of Capture and Preservation.by Coleman. A rare find in any condition!

The author: William Stephen Coleman (1829–1904) was an English painter and book illustrator. Coleman was unsuccessful in a career as a surgeon and turned to natural history illustration. He collaborated with Harrison Weir, Joseph Wolf and others; in the preparation of the wood blocks, he was assisted by his sister Rebecca. He painted in watercolor, mainly landscapes with figures, in a style with something in common with Birket Foster, and semi-classical figure subjects, related to those by Albert Joseph Moore. His classically-influenced works placed him in the "toga and terrace" or "marble school" with George Bulleid, W. Anstey Dollond, Norman Prescott-Davies and Oliver Rhys. In 1859 Coleman published Our Woodlands. Heaths, and Hedges, and in 1860 British Butterflies, both books running to several editions.