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Historical Bibliography Updated: June 17, 2026

An epitome of the natural history of the insects of India, and the islands in the Indian seas: Comprising upwards of two hundred and fifty figures and descriptions of the most singular and beautiful species, selected chiefly from those recently discovered, and which have not appeared in the works of any preceding author. The figures are accurately drawn, engraved, and coloured, from specimens of the insects; the descriptions are arranged according to the system of Linnaeus; with references to the writings of Fabricius, and other systematic authors.

Publication Details

London: Printed for the Author by T. Bensley, 1800 CE.

"For Insects of India Donovan described and figured specimens in his own cabinet, that were originally collected by the late Duchess of PortlandMarmaduke Tunstall, a Governor Holford (many years resident in India), a Mr. Ellis, George Keate, a Mr. Yeats, and a Mr. Bailey. He also studied the collections of John FrancillonMr. Drury and Alexander Macleay. His patron was Joseph Banks. It is the first illustrated publication dealing with the entomology of India. The exact publication date, stated on the title page as being 1800, is also unclear as most plates are later; for example, the plate for Cicada indica is dated Feb 1, 1804. Many of the butterflies figured are from the Americas. In the works of Fabricius on which the Epitome was based "Indiis" confusingly refers to the West Indies or northern South America" (Wikipedia)

Digital facsimile from the Internet Archive at this link.

Catalog MetadataReference Information
Entry Number#9084
Permanent Linkhttps://hom-sveltekit.fly.dev/entry/11263
Author Bio LinkWikipedia ↗
External URLan-epitome-of-the-natural-history-of-the-insects-of-india-and-the-islands-in-the-indian-seas-comprising-upwards-of-two-hundred-and-fifty-figures-and-descriptions-of-the-most-singular-and-beautiful-species-selected-chiefly-from-those-recently-discovered-and-which-have-not-appeared-in-the-works-of-any-preceding-author-the-figures-are-accurately-drawn-engraved-and-coloured-from-specimens-of-the-insects-the-descriptions-are-arranged-according-to-the-system-of-linnaeus-with-references-to-the-writings-of-fabricius-and-other-systematic-authors-

Geographic Context

Publication place: London

Mentioned in annotation: Portland, OR