THE RISE OF THE LITERATURE OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



By Willoughby Gardner. 



(Read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, 

 April 5th, 1880.) 



The old book I have laid on' the table is, as yon will see, an early 

 work on Entomology, and indeed it is the very first work ever 

 published on all orders of insects, as a separate volume. ^ It was 

 printed at London in the reign of Charles I., a.d. 1634 — two 

 hundred and forty-six years ago. Although I call it the first important 

 book on Entomology, it must not be supposed that I mean that there 

 was nothing written about insects previous to this book. The fact is, 

 several works prior to this treated of insects amongst other things, 

 but were not devoted entirely to them ; others, again, were published 

 wholly devoted to certain species, such as hive bees, silk worms, &c. ; 

 but this was the first book which treated of Entomology exclusively, 

 and which described all orders of insects. 



I now propose to give the results of a few notes I have been 

 collecting for some time past, on the rise of Entomological Literature, 

 hoping to shew its progress from the first notices we find of insects, 

 till it arrived at the dignity of a whole Latin folio volume to itself. 



Entomology is, comparatively speaking, a young science, not 

 esteemed of much consequence till, we may almost say, the commence- 

 ment of the present century. Botany, no doubt on account of its 

 close connection with medicine ; and mineralogy, linked as it was 

 with chemistry (whose great theme was to find out the far-famed 

 " philosopher's stone," which was to turn everything it touched into 

 gold) were both studied all through the middle ages, while hardly 

 anyone took any notice of Natural History, including Entomology ; 

 consequently no books treating of insects are to be found. But as 

 there is an exception to every rule, so we find some few men turning 

 their attention to Nature, and even noticing insects briefly in their 

 works, though their ideas were necessarily very vague, and many of 

 their opinions exceedingly erroneous. We may even go back past 

 the middle ages — past the Roman era — to that great age of arts, 

 sciences, and literature — the Grecian, to find the first notice of insects 

 recorded. We cannot now tell who was the first man the world saw 

 who condescended to observe and write about insects ; but this we do 

 N, S., Vol. vi.— Aug., 1880. 



(1) Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum. Olim ab Edvardo 

 Wottono, Conrado Gesnero, Thomaque Pennio inchoatum. Tandem Tho. Moixfeti 

 LondinMis oper^ sumptibusq. Maximis concinnatum, auctum perfectum, etc. etc. 

 Londini, 1634. 



