Included in the shortlist of treasures that Vladimir Nabokov featured in his New Yorker piece of 1948 was Die Gross-Schmetterlinge Europas by the late 19th century German entomologist Ernst Hofmann (1837-1892). Unlike the other favorites mentioned, however, Nabokov gives this work no additional word of praise, no particular endorsement or vivid descriptor to explain its noteworthiness and formative impact on the career of an aspiring butterfly scientist. What was it about this particular title that impressed the famously discriminating writer enough to give it a mention in one of the foremost cultural magazines of his newly adopted country?

A masterpiece in popular science

A browse through the pages of Die Gross-Schmetterlinge, first published in 1887 with several posthumous editions to follow, quickly suggests good reason to declare it a remarkable achievement. As Hofmann explains in his introduction, the goal of his project was to build on the robustly classified inventories of European butterflies already completed by pioneering entomologists while taking advantage of recent advances in late 19th century chromolithography technology. The end result: A comprehensive guide to Europe's butterflies offering concise distillations of known facts about each species, basic pointers on good butterfly identification and collecting techniques, and high-quality depictions of over two thousand butterfly species packed onto 70+ colored plates—all available at a price affordable to far more readers than ever before. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge Europas may not have boasted the hand-colored artistry that distinguished the European butterfly masterpieces of an earlier era, but it could certainly be described as a groundbreaking work of high quality popular science accessible to the wider masses.

From botanicals to butterflies

Hoffman completed Gross-Schmetterlinge while working as the curator of the Königlisches Naturialienkabinet Stuttgart, one of Europe's oldest natural history collections at the time. Much like Nabokov, Hofmann had come to his position as curator of an important specimen collection without completion of formal training in zoology. While university studies in the apothecary profession and several years working as a pharmacist in Bavaria had given him a good foundation in the study of medicinal plants, Hofmann’s career as an entomologist emerged from a deep childhood fascination with insects and from skills in insect identification imparted to him by his own father and grandfather, both avid butterfly collectors. Generous mentorship offered by established entomologists, the renowned butterfly taxonomist Gottlieb Herrich-Schaeffer among them, solidified Hoffman's eventual path into professional engagement with lepidoptery.

Path-breaking guidebooks

In addition to Gross-Schmetterlinge, Hofmann published several other books during his career, ranging from serious academic works in natural history to a field guide for aspiring young beetle collectors. The final project of his life was another remarkable work in popular butterfly science, this one about Europe’s butterflies in their larval and pupal stages. Hofmann got very close to publishing Die Raupen der Gross-Schmetterlinge Europas as a companion to his earlier guidebook, illustrated and organized in much the same way as the latter. But, tragically weakened by a chronic heart condition, he passed away just as he was approaching its completion. Hofmann's brother Ottmar, a physician with an active side career as a respected entomologist in his own right, finished the project to publish the work a year after Ernst's death in 1893. Well into the 20th century, Die Gross-Schmetterlinge Europas and its companion Die Raupen were counted among Europe's best guidebooks to its butterfly populations, valuable to amateur and seasoned lepidopterists alike.