Thursday, 13 May, 2021 - 05:15
FILE - A monarch butterfly clings to a plant at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California, Dec. 30, 2014. Reuters London - Asharq Al-Awsat
A Librarian found a 400-year-old butterfly pressed between the pages of an ancient library book.
According to The Metro, the perfectly preserved small tortoiseshell specimen was found inside a 1634 copy of Theatre of Insects, Britain s earliest tome on the subject.
Librarian Jenni Lecky-Thompson, who made the discovery at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, said: It is common to find botanical specimens inside old books, but unusual to find an insect specimen. This one could have been put there by the first owner back in the 17th century. If so it is amazing it has survived there for so long.
“I was looking at some of the fantastic animal books we have and I was going through the pages of the wonderful Theatre of Insects, or Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum to give it its true title . . . While looking through our copy I chanced upon a butterfly (a small tortoiseshell I think) next to its accompanying image. There is a striking similarity between the woodcut and butterfly, which of course was the intention so that the various species could be identified by the amateur insect enthusiast.”
The librarian noted that the find was rather unexpected, “It is relatively common to find botanical specimens inside old books, but unusual to find an insect specimen. This one could have been put there by the first owner back in the 17th century, and if so it is amazing that is has survived there for so long.”
A butterfly that could be almost 400 years old has been discovered pressed between the pages of an ancient library book at Cambridge University.
The perfectly preserved specimen, thought to be a small tortoiseshell, was found inside a copy of England s earliest insect book, Theatre of Insects, published in 1634.
The butterfly could be as old as the volume itself, according to experts at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, which has had the book in its collection since 1996.
The beautiful specimen is as colourful as the day it was pressed between the book s pages , right next to its accompanying illustration, Trinity Hall revealed.