222 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



these books are available to refer to ? It is true there are certain 

 public or semi- public libraries which can be referred to to a 

 limited extent ; but there are only two libraries in Great Britain 

 possessing a practically complete entomological library — those 

 of the British Museum (Natural History) and the Entomological 

 Society ; the former does not loan out books at all, and the 

 governing body of the latter is compelled to prohibit the loan of 

 its more valuable, and especially of its irreplaceable works ; and 

 thus many of the books one wants to consult can only be seen in 

 the libraries, and cannot be removed ; of course, the difficulty of 

 consulting them even under these conditions is emphasised the 

 further one lives from London. If we want, therefore, to con- 

 sult the beautiful books — and many of them are extremely 

 beautiful — that have been published in the last 200 years, the 

 only recourse is to purchase as many as possible and to treasure 

 them upon our bookshelves. 



Unfortunately for themselves, and the science, many lepidop- 

 terists do not seem to know or appreciate the intense interest 

 that can be obtained from the perusal of its literature. We have 

 had men, quite a number of them, who would spend hundreds of 

 pounds at a single sale of British Lepidoptera, and yet when their 

 effects came into the market it was found they did not possess 

 more than half a dozen books ; every man to his taste, of course, 

 but surely postage stamp collecting is at least as intellectual,, 

 and more useful, for there is some geography to be learnt 

 thereby ! I would like to suggest that before giving £15 or 

 £20 for an aberration of a butterfly, it might be interesting, 

 and even profitable, to ascertain if it is equally rare abroad a& 

 with us. 



At the sale of the Farn Collection a black aberration of 

 Melanargia galatea was described in the catalogue as unique ; 

 probably it was, as a Britisher ; £32 was paid for it, but this form 

 is by no means unique on the other side of the Channel ! I 

 could give other instances ! To buyers of such I would commend 

 a glance through the plates of such authors as Hiibner, Herrich 

 Schaffer, and Milliere; they might see something there that 

 would interest them ! 



The present paper is an attempt to make the more important 

 books and their present values better known, and, one hopes, 

 more appreciated. It is obvious that in a magazine article only 

 the more important books can be referred to for reasons of space, 

 and that the particulars of these must be cut down as much as 

 possible. 



In the following list the prices I quote are based upon 

 (1) either my own estimation of the current values of the works, 

 or (2) the prices that have appeared in the catalogues of the 

 second-hand booksellers. Unfortunately since the war very few 

 of these catalogues have been issued, and in some cases I have 



