Metamorphoses - The fascinating world of insects

The butterflies, beetles, mantises, grasshoppers, stick insects and bedbugs that we discover here compete in originality with their shapes and colors. But more than a succession of surprising images, these plates, taken from the Rare Book Reserve of the National Library of France, bear witness to the advances in science as well as the technical progress in printing and engraving since the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century. Thus a new science is being developed before our eyes, entomology, born from the passion of men and women from diverse backgrounds. Enlightened amateurs or true scholars, they put their fortune and their talent at the service of “insignificant” creatures, long criticized.

27 x 22 cm, 143 pages

BNF editions