this side of me

Les grandes espérances [Great expectations], 1940. Oil on canvas.

Here is the great Earth,  filled with the smell of incense,  covered with a blanket of flowers,  the Great Mountain, the Four Continents,  wearing a jewel of the Sun and Moon. In my mind I make them the Paradise of a Buddha,  and offer it all to You. By this deed, May every living being  Experience the Pure World.

— Tibetan Prayer

Protective love 2015 - Lena Revenko

These aren’t just pictures of butterflies - they are butterflies. 

Sort of.

These illustrations are examples of nature printing, a process that makes a direct impression on paper from a leaf, flower, rock, or animal.  These butterfly wings are:

direct transfers from the insects themselves; that is to say, the scales of the wings of the insects are transferred to the paper while the bodies are printed from engravings and afterward colored by hand.

If you like butterflies, stay tuned - we have a few more from this collection queued up to share.  There are seven volumes, after all.

Denton, Sherman F. (Sherman Foote), 1856-1937. Moths and butterflies of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains : with over 400 photographic illustrations in the text and many transfers of species from life.  Boston : Bradlee Whidden, 1898-1900.  Rare QL549 .D42 1898.