Beschreibung:

RAUMUR, Ren-Antoine Ferchault de (1683-1757). Memoires pour servir a l'histoire des insectes . Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1734-42. 6 volumes, 4 o (255 x 188 mm). 50 folding engraved plates by Simonneau, engraved headpieces. Contemporary French mottled calf, spines gilt (wear to a few spine heads). Provenance : Nol-Antoine Pluche (1688-1761), author of Spectacle de la nature (1732), a highly successful work which played an important role in the education of children of wealthy families and was sometimes even used as a textbook of natural science. It exposed the English approach to natural theology to the French reading public (presentation inscription from the author on the front flyleaf of vol. 1: "Donn par l'auteur N.A. Pluche"). FIRST EDITION. PRESENTATION COPY TO NOL-ANTOINE PLUCHE of "a classic in the life history and bionomics of insects" (Sparrow). In addition to investigating insect behaviour, Raumur also looked at the economic value of insects in the production of silk, honey, wax, lacquer and dye, as well as considering pest control. The Histoire des insectes was originally planned in ten volumes, but the project was halted after the sixth, possibly due to the author's jealous rivalry with his younger and more popular contemporary Buffon. A posthumously published supplement was published in 1928. A VERY FINE SET. Dibner Heralds of Science 192; Garrison-Morton 304; Nissen ZBI 3315; Wellcome IV, p. 484; Norman 1804. (6)