MOFFETT (or MOFFET or MUFFETT), Thomas.

Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum: olim ab Edoardo Wottono. Conrado Gesnero. Thomaque Pennio inchoatum: Tandem Tho. Moufeti Londinâtis operâ sumptibusque maximis concinnatum, auctum, perfectum: et ad vivum expressis Iconibus suprà quingentis illustratum.

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Title with fine woodcut illus. & ca. 500 woodcut illus. in the text. 10 p.l., 326, [4] pp. Small folio, cont. English vellum over boards. London: T. Cotes, 1634. First edition and a very fine unpressed copy in contemporary vellum of the first entomological book published in England; this is the first really fine and fresh copy to come on the market for many years. The book is most attractively illustrated with numerous handsome woodcuts. This work was the best of its kind to date: it systematically analyzed the habits, habitat, breeding and economic importance of insects, and set a new standard of accuracy in the study of invertebrates. The work has a long and complex history: when Conrad Gesner died in 1565, he left amongst his papers an unfinished book on insects, which was eventually sold to his assistant Thomas Penny. Penny also acquired the entomological notes of Edward Wotton, and had made some progress in amalgamating Gesner’s and Wotton’s information before his death in 1589. Penny’s manuscript passed to his friend and neighbor Thomas Moffett, who completed it and began negotiating for its publication at The Hague. Moffett’s negotiations apparently fell through, however, and the book was left in manuscript at his death. The manuscript remained in the Moffett family for many years, until Moffett’s apothecary Darrell sold it to Sir Theodore Mayerne, who had it published in 1634. Moffett (1553-1604), studied medicine at Cambridge and took his M.D. at Basel in 1578. In 1579 he visited Italy and Spain where he studied the silkworm. It should be noted that Moffett’s only child, Patience, is the Little Miss Muffett of the famous nursery rhyme. We can only conclude that Moffett studied live specimens. ❧ D.S.B., IX, pp. 440-41. Garrison-Morton 288–“Moffett travelled extensively in Europe and kept copious notes of his observations on insects. These he published in the above folio, together with many excellent woodcut illustrations. To date, this was the best work of its kind and it set a new standard of accuracy in the study of invertebrates.”–Garrison-Morton 288.

• USD 9,500.00 > other currencies
• ordernr.: HillBibl-1456

• bookseller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)