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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Buttterfly People by William Leach

I've been reading this nice book that I received as a gift recently. As you know, I've enjoyed painting and printing a few butterflies here and there. This book is called "Butterfly People: An American Encounter with the Beauty of the World." It is written by William Leach who has had a lifelong love of butterflies. He describes how Americans from all walks of life pursued butterflies and how they influenced the character of natural history. He focuses on a few lepidopterists who traveled around the country and the world collecting and studying butterflies in the 1800's. The beauty of butterflies led Americans to understand nature in a much deeper way. He also discusses how technological and industrial advances at the time begin to generally take precedence over Americans' interest in nature, sadly. It's a fascinating story of people who were passionate to learn all they could about butterflies.




a plate from the book


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