A Bath White, not a white bath

If you try doing a Google search for the Bath White butterfly, you get a lot of white baths. Don’t try it. This is what I’m actually looking for:

Bath White - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

I’ve seen the Bath White before in Italy:

It’s only mentioned in the Appendix to my 1939 copy of Edmund Sandars’ A Butterfly Book for the Pocket as he says “For many reasons I have preferred to exclude them from the body of the book and to make this appendix for them. They are not truly British Butterflies. Some once were: others, so far as we know, never have been, but, being residents on the Continent have, rarely, strayed here. My test is: does the appearance of a specimen produce a letter to the papers? If it does – appendix”

A Butterfly Book - Edmund Sandars - The Hall of Einar

Apparently it was, “Recorded in some numbers in 1872.”

The Bath White Butterfly - Edmund Sandars

The reason I can see it? I’m in Italy. I won’t be writing to the newspapers about it.

The Bath White Butterfly - Edmund Sandars

I love his illustrations. Here’s my photograph:

Bath White - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Here it is from over 100 years earlier from John Curtis’s breathtaking book ‘British Entomology: Being Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of Insects Found in Great Britain and Ireland: Containing Coloured Figures from Nature of the Most Rare and Beautiful Species, and in Many Instances of the Plants Upon which They are Found, Volume 5’, with an illustration from 1824:

John Curtis's British Entomology

Edmund Sandars’ book from 1939 cost me 30 pence. I don’t think I could afford a copy of John Curtis’s book, if it ever came up at auction.

More Butterflies

Francesco di Gentile - Madonna della Farfalla It’s all in the details I love walking around the Vatican Museum. It's great to see the treasures that were accumulated while the majority of… read more
Eastern Dappled White Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Eastern Dappled White Butterfly There are butterflies galore in Broken Tower Meadow, il Pratone di Torre Spaccata. Here's one. I think it's the Eastern… read more
2022 highlights of a wilder Italian life (part 2) 2022 highlights of a wilder Italian life (part 2) Being able to explore a natural world with different, unfamiliar species is a privilege. It was a thrill to visit… read more
Silver-Washed Fritillary - Lago Albano - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) A Silver-Washed Fritillary I took a photograph of this Silver-Washed Fritillary, Argynnis paphia, this summer in Italy. They are astonishingly fast, have pointed… read more
Swallowtail Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Flutterbyes Here's a flying Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio machaon: It's a little tattered but beautiful all the same: Here's a perfect example… read more
Eastern Bath White Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Egg-Laying I've enjoyed being amongst the butterflies in Parco della Caffarella. There are many different species and it's great to see… read more
Large White Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Have you ever seen a photograph like this? I've seen a lot of photographs of butterflies but never one like this. It's not just that it's a shot… read more
Orange Tip White Butterfly - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Orange and yellow This Orange-Tip, Anthocharis cardamines, is a beautiful spring sight, especially when feeding on an intense yellow dandelion. Have you seen… read more
Clouded Yellow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the) Clouded Yellow This yellow butterfly is such an attractive species. It's a Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus. It's flying in Italy in winter… read more

Leave a Reply to the HALL of EINAR Cancel reply