12 volumes, tall 8vo. 95 hand-colored engraved plates by Wagstaff and others after Curtis and Westwood. Modern cloth, uncut.

FIRST EDITION of this comprehensive overview of British entomology, including Darwin’s first printed words. The work is divided into 7 volumes of Mandibulata, 4 of Haustellata and, in this set, a supplement (which was published by Bohn in 1846). "[Darwin's] first printed words occur... in 1829. Whilst he was an undergraduate at Cambridge, Darwin had sent records of insects that he had captured to James Francis Stephens, and some of these were published in Illustrations of British Entomology. He refers to the pleasure that he got from seeing his name in print against his records of beetles... There are about thirty records bearing Darwin's name, the earliest being in an appendix to Volume II, which is dated June 15, 1829. The localities include Cambridge, North Wales and Shrewsbury" (Freeman, pp.19-20). Hagen 194.3; Nissen ZBI 3994.