One of the finest accounts of natural history travels. Henry Bates (1825 1892) was an English naturalist and explorer who gave the first scientific account of mimicry in animals. He was most famous for his expedition to the rain forests of the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1848. Wallace returned in 1852, but lost his collection on the return voyage when his ship caught fire. When Bates arrived home in 1859 after a full eleven years, he had sent back over 14,712 species (mostly of insects) of which 8,000 were, according to Bates, new to science.

First edition. 2 vols, 8vo, I: viii, [2] (list of illustrations, blank), 351, [1](blank), 32 (publisher's ads)pp., with frontispiece, 4 plates, and 13 in-text illustrations (of which one full-page), II: [2](blank), vi, 423, [1](blank)pp., with frontispiece, 3 plates, and 20 in-text illustrations; a few leaves creased, minor spotting to early leaves; publishers brown cloth gilt by Edmonds & Remnants; corners and edges bumped, rubbed, a few marks, endpapers dust-stained, nonetheless a good copy.