British Museum (Natural History): Department of Entomology: Artwork for Publication

This series consists of artwork and photographs, with occasional notes, memoranda and drafts, produced for publication in scientific journals and monographs. It includes artwork illustrating the work of Museum staff published both by the Museum and externally, as well as the illustrations prepared by outside entomologists for publication by the Museum. Among Museum staff the entomologists W E China, T Clay, F W Edwards, D S Fletcher, P Freeman, H Oldroyd, R D Pope and H Scott are all well represented, with M Bezzi, D'Assis Fonseca and N C E Miller being among the external authors. Many entomologists were their own artists, including T Clay, P F Mattingly, L A Mound and R D Pope, but others made use of professional artists who were employed on contract, including H Gillings, A Smith, O F Tassart, A J E Terzi.

All major groups of insects are depicted in the collection, with Diptera, Coleoptera and Hemiptera being particularly well represented. Among the many different parts of the world covered are Patagonia and South Chile, British India, Samoa, Ethiopia, southwest Arabia and the Seychelles.

Most of the drawings are undated, and have been arbitrarily assigned a date circa one year earlier than the publication they were prepared for. A small number of files (DF 311/293-300) contain artwork prepared for displays in the Insect Gallery.

Most of the artwork takes the form of linework in pen and ink, though pencil and tinted drawings are also present. Photographs are normally in the form of small glossy black and white prints

Appraisal information: The collection was weeded in 1995, when items consisting entirely of drawings of small body parts were discarded or returned to their authors.

Largely alphabetical by name of the scientific author, although some poorly identified drawings are listed under their artist's name.

Artwork for postcards are held in the Entomology Library, and artwork for wallcharts in the Modern Record Store.

Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated