De insectis, In Methodum Redactus; cum notularum additione. Operâ M. Lister, è Regiâ Societate Londinensi... Item appendicis ad Historiam Animalium Angliæ...
London: Excudebat R.E. sumptibus S. Smith... 1685. First edition with this title, with additions. With twenty-one fine engraved folding plates, displaying 150 examples of insects in various stages of their development and thirty-five examples of marine life. Separate title-page for the appendix. Top corner of title-page restored, a couple of tears in folding plates neatly repaired. A bit of soiling in text. Otherwise a very good, clean copy. Modern quarter black morocco over marbled boards, gilt spine. Octavo. [7], [1, blank], 356, [4], 45 pp. Item #7146
Goedart (1617-1668) was born in Middelburg, Netherlands. He had very little formal education, but his interest in art, particularly watercolor, led him to careful, scientific observations of local and regional insect populations. Although he was not a classifier and believed that certain larvae were the product of spontaneous generation, he eventually became a respected authority in entomology. This his only book, originally entitled Metamorphosis Naturalis, was first published in two parts between 1662 and 1667, with a third part appearing posthumously. In it the author details his various experiments with insects, noting their developmental histories from larvae to adult and skillfully diagrams their appearance at significant stages. Martin Lister (1639-1712) edited this edition for the Royal Society, and supplied the appendix on marine life. (See D.S.B.).
Wing G-1002. B.M.N.H. II, 659. Nissen 1606.
Price: $850.00