Drawings of American insects : shewing them in their several states, together with such minute insects as require investigation by the microscope : designed and executed from living specimens
A manuscript album of watercolour insect studies made from living specimens in Philadelphia around 1796 and attributed to Titian Ramsay Peale, kept as a naturalist's working record rather than a printed book. The pages hold caterpillars, moths and beetles painted in soft greens, blacks and yellows on cream paper, some finished, others left as pencil outlines beside handwritten notes, giving designers isolated insect figures, sprigs of foodplant, and open sketchbook pages with room for text.
