Beschreibung:

MARTYN, Thomas (fl. 1760-1816). Aranei, or a Natural History of Spiders, including the principal parts of the well known work on English spiders by Eleazar Albin as also the whole of the celebrated publication on Swedish spiders by Charles Clerck . London: the author, 1793. 2 parts in one volume, 4° (332 x 272mm). Full-page engraved and watercolour frontispiece with gilt border, 2 engraved titles, 2 engraved plates of medals, 28 hand-coloured engraved plates by Basire, Carwitham and Smith, some heightened with gum arabic. (Some light spotting rarely affecting plates, occasional light browning, notably to second title.) Contemporary red straight-grained morocco gilt, the covers tooled with Greek key pattern border, the spine in compartments with green morocco lettering piece and tooled with spider ornaments, pale blue watered silk liners (extremities lightly rubbed). A handsome copy of Martyn's work on spiders with attractive plates and frontispiece. A writer, pamphleteer, natural history dealer and draughtsman, Thomas Martyn is best known for his magnificent works on shells. He issued the Aranei as a revised republication founded on 2 separate works, Clerck's study of Swedish spiders which he describes in the preface as 'minute, curious and interesting' and Albin's delineation of English spiders, praising the accurate delineation 'both as to their size and distinctive marks.' BM(NH) III, p.1259; Nissen ZBI 2724.