An Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, by ...

Hammer

£65

An Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, by J.O.
Westwood, pub. Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, in

two volumes. Volume I 1839, 462 pp figures within the text, 1 hand-
coloured plate; Volume II, 1840, 587 pp, figures within text. At the

rear is a 'Synopsis of the Genera of British Insects' 158 pp. A pencil
note to the pastedown of vol. I testifies to the esteem this work was
held in by West. 'This book seems to me the best written as a mainstay
for the general naturalist'.

Both volumes are bound in uniform green, half leather with green,
marbled, paper-covered boards. The endpapers are in matching
marbled paper. The spines are darkened, the exterior joints rubbed, but
the books present as a solidly bound, handsome set.
With
Popular British Entomology, Maria Catlow, pub. Reeve and Co. 1852
(second edition). Octavo. 280pp 16 coloured plates some numbered
out of sequence. (Plate no. 16 is the frontispiece). Publisher's brown
cloth decorated in blind. Gilt butterfly within gilt roundel to front
cover, the motif repeated in blind on rear cover. Spine cloth peeling
but still attached (a simple flaw to rectify). Slight wear at the top of the
spine, else a rather good copy of this work by Maria Catlow [active c.
1840-1874] worked closely with her sister, Agnes on her works of
natural history.
With
The Entomologist's Text Book, J.O.Westwood, pub. Wm. S. Orr 1838.
Octavo. 432pp. Five coloured plates. Original publisher's, green cloth
decorated in blind, fade to spine. Internally clean. A good, solid copy.
Bookplate to pastedown of Thomas Chapman showing a horned owl.
Probably, Thomas Chapman [1842-1921] a Scottish entomologist.
With
A Popular History of British Sea-Weeds, Rev. D. Landsborough, pub
Reeve and Benham 1851 (second edition). Octavo. 400pp plus
publisher's catalogue. Twenty coloured plates and two plates
uncoloured. Original publisher's purple cloth, some fading, especially
to the spine. Gilt vignette to front cover repeated in blind to rear cover.
A strip at the top of the title page has been excised and replaced with
old paper tape to make up for the loss. The front hinge is cracked with
subsequent loosening to the front board but still solidly enough bound.
Extracts from old booksellers' catalogues tipped into pastedown and
front free endpaper. A good copy of this scarce title which was
produced to serve the Victorian seaweed hunters.
With

An Introduction to Entomology, William Kirby and William Spence,
sixth edition, pub. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1843.
Two volumes. Octavo. Vol. 1 pp 435. Three coloured plates. Vol II
426pp, two coloured plates. Original publisher's green cloth. Gilt
vignette beetle to the front of both volumes with motif repeated in
blind on the rear cover. Publisher's catalogue to the rear of volume
one. A few pencil annotations. To the front of volume one, a slip of
paper has been pasted in with West's comments on the sixth edition;
'The text has been slightly improved in places, but the most important
additions are the detailed tables of contents.'
Attractive, solid copies of the sixth edition.
(5)

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.