Strecker, Herman:

$2,250 · Offered by William Reese Company

LEPIDOPTERA, RHOPALOCERES AND HETEROCERES, INDIGENOUS AND EXOTIC; WITH DESCRIPTIONS AND COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS. Parts 2 through 13 (1873-76) of the original fifteen-part set published between 1872 and 1877. Strecker was a funeral monument director and enthusiastic amateur naturalist. He formed one of the largest collections of North American butterflies and moths ever assembled, now at the American Museum of Natural History. This is his first work on lepidoptery. He originally planned to publish it in monthly parts, but quickly fell behind and only produced these fifteen parts in a six-year period.According to Bennett, Strecker's work is indeed rare, "only 300 copies were printed." It describes over 300 specimens of butterflies. His goal, as stated in the advertisement for this title, was the completion of one issue each month with an accompanying color plate, on which Strecker intended to fit "as many descriptions as possible." So dedicated was he to the publication of his work, he allocated all of his money earned from sculpting tombstones, to purchase the lithographic stone on which he then drew and engraved each illustration that was to accompany the monthly issue.At the time of his death in 1901, Strecker was considered one of the country's leading entomologists and, according to his obituary printed in the NEW YORK TIMES, "the most noted lepidopterist in America." Comprising over 375,000 specimens, he "owned the largest, most valuable, and in every way the most remarkabl

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