Justin Croft Antiquarian Books : (SILK). - A few hints on the management of silk-worms in England, viewed as a study.

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HAND-COLOURED FRONTISPIECE

(SILK). A few hints on the management of silk-worms in England, viewed as a study. London and Brighton: Arthur Wallis [Brighton] for Wertheim and Macintosh in London, 1853.

8vo (185 × 120 mm), pp. vi, 23, [1] including a hand-coloured engraved frontispiece depicting the life-cycle of the silk-worm, with tissue guard. Plain pale yellow wrapper, stitching loose. A very good copy.

First and only edition. The female author (she speaks of “herself” in the Preface) has a didcatic intention, hoping that her little study will bring the reader to greater appreciation of “the Giver of all Good”. This little Brighton-printed pamphlet perfectly exemplifies the Victorian fascination with the life of insects as emblematic of the virtues of hard-work, productivity and thrift. Much of her text is paraphrased from Lardner’s Cyclopaedia and Hooke; the hand-coloured plate is most attractive.

£200.00 (equal to approx. US$316.70* or €247.34* for 22 May 2012)

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