'True Bugs' The Hemiptera Heteroptera of the British Islands...

Hammer

£160

'True Bugs'
The Hemiptera Heteroptera of the British Islands. A descriptive
account of the families, genera, and species indigenous to Great
Britain and Ireland, with notes as to localities, habitats, etc, by
Edward Saunders. pub. L. Reeve & co. 1892. Quarto. The large paper
edition. 350pp. 32 plates (31 coloured, 1 uncoloured.) Half-leather,
wine-red patterned cloth with gilt stylings. Gilt titles to spine (raised
bands) with gilt tooling. The spine slightly darkened. Some areas of
rubbing, and a small patch of colour loss to the front of the book, but a
handsome copy of this large-paper edition of Saunders' work.
With
The Hemiptera-Homoptera (Cicadina and Psyllina) of the British
Islands, A descriptive account of the families, genera, and species
indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, with notes as to localities,
habitats, etc. by James Edwards. Pub. L. Reeve and Co. 1896. Large
paper edition (so stated in a pencil note to the pastedown). Quarto.
271pp. 30 plates (28 coloured). Half leather. Marbled edges to the text
block. Gilt titles to spine, raised bands. Green cloth, the leather of the

spine faded. A handsome copy of this large-paper edition of Edwards'
work.
With
A Biology of the British Hemiptera-Heteroptera, Edward A. Butler,
pub. H.F. & G. Witherby 1923. Quarto. 682 pp. VII plates, some
coloured. Brown cloth with vignette gilt illustration to the front panel.
Pencil note to pastedown. 'This work is a necessary supplement to the
books on Hemiptera-Heteroptera by Saunders....' Manuscript copy of a
review of the book in Nature has been loosely inserted. A solid copy.
(3)

More Information

The following lots of books represent the library of George West.
West's biographical details are hard to pin down, his date of birth
unknown, (probably around the 1880's) and his death sometime after
1945. He is known to have worked as an assistant and then lecturer in
Botany at the University of Dundee from 1906. At that time the
university was a constituent college of St Andrews University. West
seems to have remained there until around 1926. In his publication
'Practical Principles of Plain Photo Micrography' (1916) he describes
himself as a lecturer in Botany. Most of the books in the sale bear the
handstamp, 'George West' to the front pastedowns. Many volumes bear
extracts from booksellers' catalogues with prices of the titles,
suggesting that West liked to keep up with the current values of his
library.
The books represent a working library and many are also
annotated in pencil in his hand, cross-referencing other works and
adding his comments. To the front of the first volume of Walker's
Diptera (see lot no.) he has inserted his handwritten poem, 'To the
Future Owners of this book'.

Geordie has now turned up his toes
And gone aloft to seek repose
From various varmints nips and stings,
Especially those base mankind brings...

.....

...He trusts the child who gets this book
Will on the various notes just look
And feel that every pencil stroke
Helps on the game dear Walker wrote...

Although a botanist by profession, his main interest, judging by
his library appears to have been entomology and amongst the books
are some rare titles in that field many dating from the nineteenth

century, a golden age for the natural sciences. Many of the giants in
the field of Entomology are represented in the books and there are

good sets of Curtis, Donovan and Stephens with many exquisite, hand-
coloured illustrations. Geology was another of his interests, as well as

microscopy.
What little is known of George West is largely gleaned from a
publication from Hereford Museum published in 2007. West had
donated a large collection of mineralogical specimens to the Museum
in 1945. His connection with Hereford, however, appears to be
tenuous and the man remains something of an enigma.