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The Orange-Tip Butterfly

Order Item BSM-P83

$25.00

Captain Thomas Brown (1785-1862), was a British naturalist born in Perth, Scotland and was educated at the Edinburgh High School. After joining the Forfar and Kineardine Militia at the age of twenty, he was raised to rank of Captain in 1811. While quartered in Manchester, he became interested in nature. He purchased the Fifeshire flax mill after his regiment was disbanded. The mill burned down before he had the opportunity to insure it. Also a malacologist (studying mollusks), he began to write books about nature to earn a living. For twenty-two years beginning in 1840, he was curator of the Manchester Museum. Additionally, he became a fellow of the Linnean Society, a member of the Wernerian, Kirwanian, and Phrenological Societies. Of the several natural history books he wrote, some dealt with conchology (studying the shells of mollusks). There was a shell named after him called Zebina browniana.

Plate XVI, Papilio cardamines. The Orange-Tip Butterfly is also called the "Lady of the Woods". The wings are white and rounded with the edges very slightly scalloped. The posterior margin is black with a row of white spots near the edge; within the black edge is a large patch of orange, having a black spot in the middle. The underwings are white, marbled with grey and an interrupted black border on their outer margin. The body is white with an oval black mark on the back and triangular black patches on the segments of the abdomen. The eyes are green and beneath each eye is a small circular spot of red. The caterpillar changes to a chrysalis about the end of June and it is not until the following May that it becomes a butterfly. It is found in Britain.

This particular plate is an original hand-coloured engraving from "The Book of Butterfies, Sphinges, and Moths" by Captain Thomas Brown, Volume One (1834). This bright, vividly coloured plate measures approximately 4 X 6.5 inches. It has no foxing. The page edge has mild browning and a small amount of mild smudging. It is in very good condition for the age. The engraved portion could be matted and/or framed to an area 3 .5 inches square, or larger to include the plate number and name of butterfly. The corresponding descriptive text pages are included with the purchase of this fine engraving.

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