123 - GEOFFROY, Etienne-Louis. A Brief History of Insects.

GEOFFROY, Etienne-Louis. A Brief History of Insects. Paris, Durand, 1764. In-4 (25 x 19 cm), marbled tan calfskin, ribbed spine decorated with panels. Marbled edges. Contemporary binding. 2 vols.: XXVIII-523 pp. - 690 pp., 22 folding plates engraved by A.J. Defehrt and Prévost, one folding chart. Numerous old annotations, faint water stains. Second edition of this remarkable 18th-century entomological work, illustrated with a beautiful set of 22 lovely folding plates, each featuring several figures (insects); and a folding chart (on their classification) engraved by Prévost and Defehrt. A new entomological classification established by the pharmacist Étienne Louis Geoffroy (1725–1810) based on the presence or absence, number, shape, and texture of the wings—dividing insects into six orders: Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Tetraptera with mealy wings, Tetraptera with bare wings, Diptera, and Aptera.