Paris, P. Bertrand; Strasbourg, V. Levrault, 1837-1846. Text and atlas. Large 4to and folio (33.3 x 24.9 cm). [viii], 222 pp.; 32 finely lithographed and delicately hand-coloured plates [numbered 1-32] with captions providing the species names. Recent quarter cloth over printed boards. Spine with printed label with title.

The complete entomological section, a beautifully illustrated work by one of the most eminent malacologists of all time, the French explorer, zoologist, botanist and palaeontologist Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (1802-1857). Entirely based on his own collections and researches. The description of D'Orbigny's insects was started by the French entomologist Gaspard Auguste Brullé (1809-1873), but being appointed to a professorship at the university of Dijon, he left Paris and handed the work over to his compatriot and colleague Charles Émile Blanchard (1819-1900) who wrote all text after page 60. The work deals mainly with the very diverse and often colourful tropical beetles. Some light, scattered spotting. Second text leaf placed after fourth. This work is prone to foxing, but this is by far the cleanest copy we have ever seen. Horn-Schenkling, 2705 (under Brullé); Nissen ZBI, 3021; Sabin, 57457.