HILL (John). A Decade of Curious Insects: some of them not describ'd before: shewn in their natural size; and as they appear enlarg'd before the Lucernal Microscope; in which the solar apparatus is artificially illuminated. With their history, characters, manners, and places of abode; on ten quarto plates, and their explanations. Drawn and engraved from nature.1773

London: Printed for the Author, to be sold by B. White and others, 4to (300 x 230 mm), 24, [2]pp., 10 hand-coloured engraved plates (the plates are printed in on larger paper than the letterpress text), some occasional spotting and offsetting, as issued in the orig. stitched marbled wrappers, spine worn, some light creasing to page edges, stitching becoming loose. First published the previous year under the title Insects in their Natural Size; and as they appear before the microscope, this issue has a cancel title-page and added index. The plates, each with short accompanying text, show the insects in their natural size, and also much enlarged, as seen under a microscope. A note in letterpress to the verso of the title reads "Ladies who may chuse to paint these insects themselves may have sets of the cuts on Royal Paper printed pale for that purpose". John Hill MD (1714-1775) was best known for his monumental botanical work The Vegetable System published in 26 folio volumes 1761-1775. Nissen ZBI, 1938; Freeman, 1686.