Amsterdam, Jan Christiaan Sepp, [1780]-1788. Two parts in one. Large 4to (30.5 x 24.0 cm). pp. [ii], 124; hand-coloured engraved frontispiece and 29 hand-coloured engraved plates. [AND] 172 pp.; hand-coloured engraved frontispiece and 41 hand-coloured engraved plates. Contemporary half calf over speckled boards. Spine with five raised bands, compartments with gilt lines and lettering.

A fine set of these beautifully illustrated entomological works on Hemiptera, or true bugs, which are nearly always found bound together. Our "set" contains the general title for both works dated 1780. The work describes the Cicadidae and true bugs in all parts of the world, many from Surinam, the Cape Province, and the Coromandel coast. Caspar Stoll was the first entomologist to devote himself almost entirely to Hemiptera. The two frontispieces are particularly attractive and show a wreath of flowers with insects. Caspar Stoll was born in Hessen-Kassel between 1725 and 1730 and lived in The Hague and later in Amsterdam. William V of Orange-Nassau was the godfather of two of his children. He was "Commies ter Admiraliteit" in Amsterdam and published several works on entomology. Jan Christiaan Sepp (1739-1811) was a bookseller and publisher and his publishing house produced some of the finest Dutch natural history colour-plate books of the 18th century. Apart from that he was an entomologist, artist and engraver and wrote, with his father, a large work on Dutch insects, which he also illustrated. He also illustrated the above two works. The first work depicts 173 insects on 29 plates and the second volume depicts 298 insects on 41 plates. The text is in Dutch and French. Cicaden plate XII bound before XI. Provenance: on the front pastedown a tiny bookplate of the Swiss-born, Munich entomologist and bookseller Hans Werner Taeuber (1877-1970), a brother of the Dadaist Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Hagen II, p. 199; Horn-Schenkling, 21554; Landwehr 191; Nissen ZBI, 3999 and 4000.