Natural History Plates

 

The colour plates box included Transactions of the Entomological Society of London (1912), featuring fifteen butterfly plates. Plates 1 to 5 share a warm, earthy palette, with crayons and penwork, and plate 5 stands out for its striking orange-red hue. Most were drawn in crayon, while some plates included pen and brushwork. I also examined Proceedings of the Zoological Society (1882–1884), which contains over twenty hand-watercoloured bird plates engraved in crayon with exceptional precision and luminosity, notably in the reds and yellows. Some details were incised with a needle, revealing layered washes and meticulous ink application. The 1882 sets of butterflies and moths combine crayon lithography, pen drawing, and hand colouring, often with eight or more colours per plate, including silver. Despite some coloured pencil retouching that softens the outlines, the chromatic richness and painterly texture remain remarkable. Other plates depict shells, lizards, bats, and mammals, with a similarly varied and elaborate technique.