The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland (2nd Edition)

[Rogerdodge]

Hi
For those of you that are not members of BC (shame on you!!) in the latest edition of the magazine, they have announced the new and much revised edition of -
The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland (2nd Edition)
with illustrations by the brilliant Richard Lewington will be available in April.
The first edition remains one of my favourite butterfly books, and the new edition ha me a little excited!!
For signed copies pre-order go to-
http://www.britishwildlife.com/html/butterflies.html
Click on the e-shop tab.
At £22 it is a bargain - 2nd hand copies of the first edition have gone for over £70!!

[Trev Sawyer]

Yes Roger,
... and I'm sure that many of us using the UKButterflies site will be awaiting delivery with great anticipation. I just hope they print a lot of copies, 'cos they really will sell like hot cakes

Trev

[Pete Eeles]

I can't believe the price - probably the best value book you could possibly buy!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Trev Sawyer]

Could we be any more enthusiastic I wonder?..
Perhaps we should be on commission!

Trev

[lee3764]

Agreed, a bargain at £22.00 and only £1.00 P & P per copy as well as signed by Jeremy & Richard too!! I've already ordered 2 x copies; 1 for field use and 1 to keep with my best books on the bookshelf. This edition together with the 1st edition are the modern Frohawk calibre books! Frohawk did breed all the species himself though. You won't get a better book on butterflies than the Thomas/Lewington books whether they're 1st or 2nd editions!

[lee3764]

Not long to go now! Thomas & Lewington's 'The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland (2nd Edition)' is supposed to be out on 30th April, 2010 in just 4 days time. Perhaps whoever gets their copy first could post their findings on this thread?
Cheers,
Lee.

[alex mclennan]

Mine arrived this morning! Wow!
Alex

[Pete Eeles]

So where's mine ?

Richard told me that he and Jeremy managed to sign 1600 copies and need to go back to sign a load more! Also - Richard has just launched his own website at:

http://www.richardlewington.co.uk

... should anyone want one of his excellent prints (or originals!). (And please let me know of any issues with Richard's website since I built it ).

Cheers,

- Pete

[GsButterflies]

Sorry Pete,

Mine arrived today, need to eat a late lunch and then that's the rest of my day sorted.

G

[Rogerdodge]

Mine was waiting in the porch when I got home from work.
I have to say I am impressed. The page ratio is better than he previous edition which was a rather unpleasing square.
The paper quality is excellent - another fall-down area for the first edition.
The illustrations are beautiful, and, from what I have read so far, the text is informal yet scholarly.
If you haven't ordered one yet - do so. It is just excellent.
That's my evening settled then - a cold bottle of dry white and The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland!

[lee3764]

Mine NOT arrived! Lucky those who have received it already!
Hopefully tomorrow (Thursday) will bring my package?
Any more early reviews yet?
I still think the 1991 1st version is brilliant for its time. Virtually a modern day Frohawk 'The Natural History of British Butterflies' which was published in 1924.
Lee.

[hosebirder]

Mine has arrived as well. What a lovely surprise, i thought it was to be released on Friday and would arrive next week.
Already in trouble with my partner as I'm not listening to her!
Plates are gorgeous and the text both easy to read and crammed with information.

Brian

[Pete Eeles]

Any more early reviews yet?

So here's a thought - since I'll be providing a formal review on the UKB website, how about members give me some "soundbites" to add to that review? Just post them in this thread. It would be good to have a well-rounded review rather than my opinion alone, since I'm rather biased given my love of this book! Rogerdodge's post is the kind of thing.

BTW - both Jeremy and Richard are most grateful for the comments you lot are posting here! They both look in from time to time!

Cheers,

- Pete

[lee3764]

I still remember when Jeremy Thomas gave an illustrated talk at Truro Museum, Cornwall on 9th June 1993 on the Large Blue butterfly when our Cornwall branch of Butterfly Conservation was launched after Jeremy leading us all round Greenscoombe Woods in East Cornwall amongst 100+ Heath Fritillaries earlier in the day. Perfect weather that day after the previous nights vicious storms (thunder & lightning & torrential rain). He also personally signed my 1st edition of my 1991 version of 'The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland'. That book takes pride of place on my bookshelf & is still in excellent condition with the dustjacket even though I read it scores of times over the years! I,ve ordered 2 of the new version which are signed & will take 1 in the field & the other will keep my original 1991 version company on my bookshelf.
Lee.

[alex mclennan]

I'm sure that there will be plenty of 'rave' reviews to come about the updated content of the book but my first impressions were, naturally, with its appearance as I removed it from the wrapper. It was clean, shiny, felt good and the designers are to be congratulated on the beautiful cover. I felt immediately that this was a book that I wanted to pick up and read. Well done, Jeremy, Richard and all concerned with the production.
Alex

[Paul]

Best Butterfly book I've ever had, and that was first time round.... this edition is awesome!!!

[Trev Sawyer]

Received my copy yesterday and couldn't put it down all evening...
Not having the original copy, I wasn't sure how much information it was likely to contain or how thick the book was to be - I had heard the original book was quite large and (being of a roughly square format) not necessarily easy to fit in with other books on a shelf. This new copy is of a much more user-friendly size format and there are no such worries. The book is easily the most informative book I have seen on British Butterflies and is a real mine of information about each species. As there are over 280 pages and the font is quite small, it encompasses a huge amount of information. The quality of detail in Jeremy Thomas' text is perfectly mirrored by Richard Lewingon's exquisite illustrations - quite brilliant.
Even though I have only read the chapters on half a dozen or so species so far, I have learned so much... The notes about how to find the various stages, their habits and the history of their locality (and the unfortunate changes which have occurred in many) are laid out wonderfully and in an easy to read style. For example, the effect of the draining of the East Anglian Fens on various species of butterfly including the Large Copper etc, certainly made me realise how much our countryside has changed since the "days of plenty" when collectors seemed to catch everything which moved - Thank goodness we now have cameras to "collect" our butterflies, rather than nets and pins!
I make no apology for being so "gushing" about this book - it really is a fantastic piece of work. If you don't believe me, beg, borrow or steal one and have a quick look through its pages... It will soon become apparent that you have no option but to buy your own copy. No true butterfly enthusiast can afford to be without this tome on their bookshelf.... and at under £25, it really is a steal anyway!

Trev

[NickB]

Picked mine up from the Royal Mail office this lunchtime; at first glance it is exactly what I'd hoped it would be
Packed with information and Lewington's illustrations inspire me each time I see them...I can only echo what others have said...
" Buy it today"
you won't regret it...

N

[Pete Eeles]

Got mine too. At last! Superbly produced and very much looking forward to reading the new content.

Review to follow in due course ...

Jeremy tells me that the special offer at a discounted rate (and for an autographed copy) runs until the end of May for those that haven't ordered. See http://www.britishwildlife.co.uk/

And anyone wanting to buy an original or print from the book should look here: http://www.richardlewington.co.uk

Cheers,

- Pete

[Neil Hulme]

My two favourite butterfly books are 'The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland' (Thomas & Lewington, First Edition) and 'The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland' (Thomas & Lewington, Second Edition). That says it all!
Neil