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A Natural History of English Insects. Illustrated with a Hundred Copper Plates, Curiousl;y engraven from the Life: and (for those who desire it) Exactly coloured by the Author, Eleazar Albin, Painter.

London: Printed for the Author: And sold by William and John Innys, 1720. First edition. Quarto (11 1/4 x 9, 287mm x 230mm). With Dedication and 100 hand-coloured engraved copper plates. Bound in Contemporary calf panelled in gilt with foliate cornerpieces. On the spine, 6 raised bands and author and title gilt to a red morocco lettering piece in the second panel. Hand-coloured engraved plates by Albin. Hullet, H. Terasson and van Gucht after Albin. Each plate is dedicataed to a subscriber or well-known person, likely Albins patrons and those interested in his drawings of insects. The plates are numbered in roman numerals. Plate C is misbound at the front. Plates 51, 53 and 61 are numbered in manuscript. Boards and extremities heavily worn. Staining, foxing and offsetting throughout. Eleazar Albin (fl. 1713-1759) was an English naturalist and watercolorist. He is considered to be one of the premier entomological book illustrators of the 18th century. Little is known of his early life, although he may have been born in Germany. By 1708, he had taken the surname Albin. In 1709-1710, he met Her Grace Mary, the Duchess Dowager of Beaufort, who encouraged him to study insects. He emphasized that his insects were drawn from personal observation, unlike many of his predessors. Upon the death of his patroness in 1715, Albin struggled to fund his project and relied on subscriptions until this first publication in 1720. Lisney 122; Nissen ZBI 58.