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Michael A. Salmon

The Aurelian Legacy - a History of British Butterflies and their Collectors: With contributions by Peter Marren and Basil Harley Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 Jan. 2000

by Michael Salmon (Author)

9 ratings

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Liberally laced with contemporary quotations, this book brings to life the past three hundred years of butterfly study, with details of early societies, collecting equipment, biographies of 101 deceased lepidopterists, with portraits where available, as well as the chequered history in Britain of some 35 species of butterfly.

Print length

432 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harley Books
Publication date

1 Jan. 2000
Dimensions

21.01 x 2.69 x 27.51 cm
ISBN-10

0946589402
ISBN-13

978-0946589401
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Product description

Review

What can one say about such a beautiful and informative book? It is difficult to express in words what a remarkable publication it is and at such a low price. - W. G. Tremewan, Entomologist's Gazette
This information-packed but highly readable account of 300 years of British lepidoptery, practised largely by amateurs, is a must-read for butterfly afficionados and social historians alike. - Nature
an extraordinarily readable, accessible and fascinating account of a subculture that has never before been championed in a work for the public. It is a riveting and remarkable book. - Gaden Robinson, Times Literary Supplement
This is as splendid a volume as one might hope or wish for ... - John Fowles, The Spectator

About the Author

Michael Salmon, an amateur lepidopterist who has made a special study of butterfly variation in Britain, has spent many years in gathering together the wealth of anecdotal and illustrative material which enhance this historical account, in which he has been assisted by Peter Marren and Basil Harley.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harley Books; Illustrated edition (1 Jan. 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0946589402
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0946589401
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.01 x 2.69 x 27.51 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 645,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 393 in Wild Insects & Spiders
- 2,018 in History of Science (Books)
- 2,510 in Scientist Biographies

Customer reviews:
9 ratings

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K. Hardy

A Definitive Work on British butterflies.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2014

Verified Purchase

A fascinating and interesting book especially for the butterfly enthusiast. An incredible amount of research has gone into
this work. It is a worthy definitive work on the subject and history of British butterflies.
Ian Hardy

One person found this helpful

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leonidas

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 December 2017

Verified Purchase

just perfect!

Helpful

DICKIE

HISTORY, NATURAL, SOCIAL

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 April 2011

Verified Purchase

This is a first rate book. If you have a passion for the natural history of British Butterflies tis book will feed it. If your passion is social history then this will equally meet your needs. The prints are excellent and the feel of the book is worth the price alone. I recommend this volume to any one that loves British natural history. FIVE STAR IN EVERYWAY.

7 people found this helpful

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gemini 3

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 February 2015

Verified Purchase

A bit deep and complex

One person found this helpful

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book worm

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 July 2014

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specialist, erudite and yet readable

One person found this helpful

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hugh wright

immaculate condition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2017

Verified Purchase

Immaculate condition but no dust cover

One person found this helpful

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Butterfly Minds

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 October 2011

"A volume of this kind has been awaited with impatience for decades, for we have all longed to know the history of the bug hunters...And here it is at last." This introduction by Miriam Rothschild rather gives away the fact that this handsome history book is written for a pretty limited audience.(Unless we take her at her word and assume that "all" of the reading public have been awaiting a book on British Butterfly collectors.)

The bulk of the book is a collection of 101 short biographies of British lepidopterists, commemorating naturalists from over 300 years. The other long chapter, "Some Species of Historical Interest" more or less duplicates the information in the biographies, but told with the emphasis on the discoveries rather than the discoverers.

Taken in whole, this is is an interesting overview
of changing persectives in the study of Nature, and butterflies in particular, through history. It is full of individual stories, from frauds and fakes to new species discoveries.

Other sections of the book deal with collecting and conservation. Salmon is, very unfashionably, supportive of the right of the serious naturalist to collect specimens. This is well argued but I find this a difficult position to sympathise with. The sheer numbers quoted of butterflies collected by the Victorian and Edwardian hunters is depressing, the photos of the massed ranks of Large Blues (p303) and Large Coppers (p283) captured and killed, now extinct in Britain, are horrible.

Of course, it is not necessary to agree with an author totally to appreciate his work. And this is a serious and valuable book. Well illustrated and authoratative.

Rather than the description of the collector's kit (a very off-putting second chapter after a positive, poetry-filled first chapter) I would have preferred more reproductions of pages from the various works quoted in the biographries, but it is churlish to carp too much about this labour of love. The presence of Rothschilds as introducer and ,prominently, in the historical biographies, may lead some readers to suspect patronage leading to undeserved praise, but this is quite clearly not the case.

5 people found this helpful

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The Aurelian Legacy - a History of British Butterflies and their Collectors: With contributions by Peter Marren and Basil Harley Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 Jan. 2000

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