2,000+ FINELY COLORED SPECIES. Index Entomologicus: or a Complete Illustrated Catalogue consisting of upwards of Two Thousand Accuratly Coloured Figures of the Lepdopterous Insects of Great Britain A New and Revised Edition with Supplement containing figures and notices of nearly two hundred newly discovered species, synoptic lists, etc.

London: G. Willis, 1854. Second, enlarged edition. 1854 OVER 2,000 FINE MINIATURE COLORED ENGRAVINGS OF BUTTERFLIES & MOTHS IN 59 PLATES. 9 3/5 inches tall hardcover, 3/4 leather binding, marbled paper covered boards, gilt spine with raised bands, top edge gilt, bookplate of Sondley Reference Library to front paste-down, bookplate of Robert L. Chevalier MD to front free endpaper, verso FFE: ink signature of "F. A. Sondley, LLD, Finis Viae Angkosia, N.C., Nov. 10, 1913 $15.00", and ink collation, "59 colored Plates Complete 11/29/32 M.H.L." Frontispiece hand colored copper plate engraving of butterflies containing 36 individuals, titled Papilio Pl. 1, [1], i-ii (errata & addenda), 21, [6], 298 pp, with 59 plates including frontispiece containing a total of 2,129 individual specimens. Corners and bottom cover edges worn, binding tight, light age toning to page edges, embossed Sondley Library stamp to title page and each plate--no other library marks. Very good minus in archival mylar cover. CONTENTS: A Catalogue of the British Lepidoptera figured in this work, arranged according to Mr. Stephens' lists of the British Museum Collection, [1850-52] with the species added in the present edition, inserted in their proper places, together with Additions to the Second Edition (Supplemental Plates 55 - 59). WILLIAM WOOD (1774–1857), was an English surgeon, zoologist and entomologist. He was born in Kendal, Westmorland and trained in surgery at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He practised for several years as a surgeon at Wingham, near Canterbury and in London, but left the medical profession to become a natural history bookseller, publisher and naturalist. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society (elected 1812) and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. JOHN OBADIAH WESTWOOD (1805 – 1893) was an English entomologist and archaeologist also noted for his artistic talents. He published several illustrated works on insects and antiquities. He was among the first entomologists with an academic position at Oxford University. In 1824 he met the entomologist Reverend Frederick William Hope, and in 1833 Westwood and Hope were founding members of the Entomological Society of London. PROVENANCE: FORSTER A. SONDLEY (1857-1931), scholar and bibliophile, graduated from Wofford College in 1876 and returned to Asheville to practice law. Admitted to the bar, he received his law license from the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1879. Widely read and expert in state history, Sondley served on the first North Carolina Historical Commission in 1903, and fostered the development of the Buncombe County Historical Society. In 1911, Sondley moved to Finis Viae, a massive home built along Haw Creek near Asheville. By the time of his death on April 17, 1931, Sondley had amassed a library of nearly 30,000 volumes including many rare works pertaining to North Carolina history. A lifelong bachelor, Sondley held an estate which was broken up at his death and distributed among his nieces and nephews. He left his library to the city of Asheville, and it formed the nucleus of the Sondley Reference Library at Asheville's Pack Memorial Library. (Inventory #: 1554)