MADER, Johann. Raupenkalender, oder Verzeichnis aller Monate.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

MADER, Johann. Raupenkalender, oder Verzeichnis aller Monate. Nuremberg: E.F.C. Kleemann. 1777.

8vo. Later vellum-backed boards with teal paste paper sides, edges stained yellow, spine lettered in ink in gothic letter, brown endpapers; pp. 120; 12-pp. contemporary manuscript index bound at end; woodcut and typographic headpieces; lightly toned, title somewhat soiled with thumb-marks throughout; nonetheless a good copy; front free endpaper with ownership inscriptions of Johann Wilhelm Meigen (dated Solingen, 10 November 1783), Johann Schlickum (Hagen, 10 October 1795), and Leopold Schlickum (Eilpe, Hagen, 19 March 1821), nineteenth-century collector’s stamp Carl ?Geiswald, Hagen to front free endpaper verso and title.

Scarce first edition of this curious guide to identifying garden caterpillars and moths by the plants on which they feed each month; this copy belonged to the renowned entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen, known as the ‘father of dipterology’, and was at the time of acquisition the only entomological work in his library.

The Raupenkalender (Caterpillar Calendar) was commissioned by the miniaturist Christian Friedrich Carl Kleemann (1735–1789), the publisher of the present work. ‘The intent is to make it easier for those enthusiasts who hope to assemble a collection of magnificent and brightly coloured butterflies to breed them from captivity, so that they can preserve their beauty without the colour of their wings suffering … and to observe their wondrous transformation’ (preface, trans.). Kleemann had illustrated the magnificent Monatlich-herausgegeben Insecten-Belustigung, by his father-in-law, August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, providing numerous illustrations of butterflies and continuing the work after Rösel’s death.

The present work builds on the Insecten-Belustigung, and each page is divided into three columns: plants favoured by caterpillars at a given time of year, a description of each caterpillar’s appearance (both in larval form and after emerging as a butterfly), and the relevant Rösel citation. In March, for instance, the caterpillars of Angle Shades moths feed on celery and strawberry leaves, whereas by May, you will more likely find adult Glanville fritillaries feeding on speedwell flowers or hawk-moths on honeysuckle. Several species are as yet unclassified, described in physical form but ‘without a name’ (trans.).

This copy belonged to the entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen (1764–1845), known as the ‘father of dipterology’. He would later classify over three thousand fly species, including the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster, 1830). He was also the first to classify the common green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) and the black blow fly (Phormia regina) in 1826, both of which have been heavily used in forensic entomology to determine time of death based on the appearance of maggots. In 1818 he named the family Culicidae, encompassing all mosquitoes.

Meigen acquired this volume in his hometown of Solingen (near Wuppertal) in November 1783, incredibly early in his career, when he lacked both formal training and a scientific library; at the time this copy was known to be the ‘only entomological book’ in his library (Entomolgische Mitteilungen aus dem Zoologischen Museum Hamburg, 7:15 (March 1983), p. 291). The year after he acquired this copy, he took up a position as a tutor in Aachen, where his interest in entomology was encouraged by Mathias Baumhauer, who had ammassed a collection of over 1200 butterfly and insect samples, sparking Meigen’s lifelong interest in insects. The Raupenkalender’s focus on caterpillar observation and capture with a view to building a collection of Lepidoptera would have been of great use in his dealings with Baumhauer.

Here, Meigen adds his own index in manuscript, providing a list of common moth and butterfly names in German with a corresponding Latin index, the latter significantly shorter due to contemporary gaps in classification. There follow brief observations in his hand on species observed in July and August.

Provenance:

1. Ownership inscription of Johann Wilhelm Meigen, dated Solingen, 10 November 1783.

2. 10 October 1795 ownership inscription of Johann Schlickum of Hagen, likely the geodeist and land surveyor of that name (1769–1844).

3. Passed by descent to his son, Leopold Schlickum of Hagen (1804–1831), with ownership inscription dated 19 March 1821.

4. Nineteenth-century collector’s stamp of Carl ?Geisenwald, Hagen.

OCLC finds only two copies outside continental Europe, at Cornell and Yale; not on Library Hub.

VD18 12497118.

SKU: 2126614