Using rare and fascinating specimens entrusted to him by the entomologists of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, painter and illustrator Bernard Durin (1940–1988) portrayed each insect as an "individual personality." 48 of his mesmerizing portraits adorn Bernard Durin: Beetles and Other Insects – masterly paintings that outshine any imagery that today's most advanced computer animation could ever produce.
With an introduction by Paul-Armand Gette, with texts by Gerhard Scherer, Michael Balke and others, and literary texts by André Breton, Lewis Carroll, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Gottfried Keller, Lautréamont, Maria Sibylla Merian, Vladimir Nabokov, Edgar Allan Poe, Jean Paul, Jonathan Swift and others.
Displaying a breathtaking mastery of a vast array of evidence, presented objectively and accurately, Graeme Barker has performed a great service in putting together this global overview of one of archaeology's great questions.--Paul G. Bahn, Times Literary Supplement
"Ideally suited to undergraduates and readers from other disciplines seeking an introduction to this key topic."--British Archaeology