Hymenoptera: Twelve Specimens.
(Pasadena, CA): Kerberos Press, 2011. Octavo. 28ff. One of twenty copies, signed by the printer, Vance Studley, and the designer, Tom Mossman, on the colophon page. An unbound collection of detailed illustrations of twelve different species of solitary bees, with accompanying descriptions of their physical and social characteristics, habitats, and recorded locations around the world. The images were obtained from the original hand-colored engravings in Exploration Scientifique de l'Algerie, published by Claude Arthus-Bertrand in 1849. Though at first perusal a laudatory encyclopedia, upon deeper reflection the book reveals itself as a memorial to, and contemporary reminder of, the precariousness of bees' survival, and their profound importance to our own. Sheets are housed in a black-cloth box with purple paper label inset on upper lid and orange leather label on spine. Some minor bumps to edges of sheets, else fine. Prospectus laid in. Item #27798
Price: $1,500.00