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106 - DEJEAN (Auguste). General Species of Coleoptera, from the co…
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Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
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DEJEAN (Auguste). General Species of Coleoptera, from the collection of Count Dejean… Paris, Crevot, then Méquignon-Marvis, 1825–1831.— Charles AUBÉ. General Species of Hydrocantharae and Gyrini… Paris, Méquignon-Marvis père et fils, 1838. 2 works in 5 tomes and 6 volumes + 1 volume in-8, 12.5 x 20.5 cm, XXX + 463 pp. & VIII + 502 pp. & VIII + 556 pp. & VIII + 520 pp. & VIII + 384 pp. & 2 ff., 385–884 pp. & XVI + 804 pp., mid-19th-century binding in aubergine half-calf, spine ribbed and decorated with gilt fillets. First edition of one of the seminal works of coleopterology in the 19th century. The *Species* is based on the vast collection of General Dejean (1780–1845) and constitutes the principal description of his beetles. It was supplemented in 1838 by Aubé with his work published ‘as a follow-up’ to Dejean’s, concerning hydrocanthars and gyrinians. An exceptional working copy belonging to Count Dejean, which he extensively annotated, as indicated by a signed autograph note on the reverse of the flyleaf of the first volume by René Oberthür (1852–1944), who had acquired a considerable part of Dejean’s entomological collections, which were donated to the Museum in 1952. It subsequently passed into the entomological libraries of the great collector Edmond Fleutiaux (1858–1951; signed handwritten note), and subsequently to those of Jacques Nègre (1907–1988), president of the Société entomologique de France (engraved ex-libris), who possessed very extensive collections and a library. In an interview given in 1988 to the journal *Insectes*, J. Nègre spoke of this copy: ‘At Oberthür’s in Rennes, I found a few good items […] and, above all, a “Species” by Dejean [which] the author himself had had bound and annotated in his own hand, in his small, legible handwriting ”. – Expert: Cédric and Ithier de FOUGEROLLE
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About the sale Antique and modern books, manuscripts
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Auction time 10/21/2026 at 1:30 PM
Ref. : 15251 - 139
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