1900 ❧ 'Nature printing.' DENTON, SHERMAN FOOTE. 1856-1937. As Nature Shows Them. Moths and Butterflies of the United States, East of the Rocky Mountains. Boston: J.B. Millet Company, [1900]. 3 volumes, large 8vo (251 x 175 mm). Illustrated with over 400 photographic illustrations in the text and 56 color plates. Marginal staining. Bound in original publisher's or contemporary half dark green morocco, spines with gilt butterfly devices, edges gilt. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, number 27 of 500 copies. Denton's masterpiece stands as a monument in the history of natural history illustration due to its ground-breaking method of 'nature printing'. Desiring absolute fidelity to life, the author transferred the actual scales from the wings of the insects directly onto the paper surfaces under intense pressure. The bodies of the specimens were then printed from highly detailed engravings and expertly finished by hand. The project was an immense labor of love; unable to find assistance that met his uncompromising standards, Denton single-handedly executed over 50,000 individual direct wing transfers for the complete run of the edition. 'In the history of colour-illustration I know nothing more wonderful than this book' (Hardie, American Coloured Books, 1906. Bennett, p. 33; McGrath American Colorplate Books, pp. 176-177; Nissen ZBI 1079; Reese, Stamped with a National Character 38. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing