The Butterfly
Flights of Enchantment
Published on 3. April 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-916812-33-8 (ISBN)
Description
Understanding, loving and protecting butterflies-in all their enchantments.
Butterflies have enchanted and intrigued us for centuries. From the eighteenth-century "aurelians", through the Victorian "golden age" of collecting, to the twentieth-century focus on conservation, humans have chased glimpses of these beautiful but elusive creatures. Winding through literature, art, music, and dreams, The Butterfly: Flights of Enchantment uncovers why butterflies continue to inhabit such a profound place in our imagination.
A first of its kind in combining the history of human interest in butterflies with a guide to practical observation, this pocket guide encourages us to nurture our curiosity and head out into our local environment, focusing on edgeland habitats that are home to many species.
It is perhaps because butterflies are so fragile and fleeting that we are so beguiled by them. But now, as numbers dwindle, they have never been more difficult to spot. The Butterfly paves the way towards observing, identifying and ultimately protecting them.
Butterflies have enchanted and intrigued us for centuries. From the eighteenth-century "aurelians", through the Victorian "golden age" of collecting, to the twentieth-century focus on conservation, humans have chased glimpses of these beautiful but elusive creatures. Winding through literature, art, music, and dreams, The Butterfly: Flights of Enchantment uncovers why butterflies continue to inhabit such a profound place in our imagination.
A first of its kind in combining the history of human interest in butterflies with a guide to practical observation, this pocket guide encourages us to nurture our curiosity and head out into our local environment, focusing on edgeland habitats that are home to many species.
It is perhaps because butterflies are so fragile and fleeting that we are so beguiled by them. But now, as numbers dwindle, they have never been more difficult to spot. The Butterfly paves the way towards observing, identifying and ultimately protecting them.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Salford
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 178 mm
Width: 111 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-916812-33-8 (9781916812338)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Nigel Andrew has worked as a reference librarian, a critic and a feature writer for publications including the Times, Listener, Sunday Times, and Guardian/Observer. He then joined the staff of Radio Times before moving on to a full-time position at the Daily Mail. He now contributes to Literary Review and Slightly Foxed. His book, The Mother of Beauty: On the Golden Age of English Church Monuments, and Other Matters of Life and Death (2019) was described as 'a wonderful book in every way, perfect for anyone interested in churches, in the lost corners of England, or in meditating on mortality'.
Content
I: A Personal History
My Butterfly Life
II: A History in Time
Early Times: A Slow Awakening of Interest
The Eighteenth Century: Enchanted Aurelians
Victorian Times: Men with Nets
Pins, Poisons and Field Guides
The Twentieth Century: Conservation, Citizen Science, New Wonders
The Mindful Present: Seeing and Being
III: A History in the Mind
The Parallel History: Dreams, Art, Literature, Music and Obsession
Meanings and Lessons
IV: Into Butterfly Country
Where Are the Butterflies?
Practicalities
Questions and Answers
The Butterflies, and Where (and When) to Find Them