In June 1948, just a month before taking up his position as professor of Russian literature at Cornell, Vladimir Nabokov published an article in The New Yorker recounting the childhood experiences at the root of his lifelong passion for the study of butterflies. Among his most vivid memories: thrilling encounters, in a dusty corner of his family’s home, with old and fantastically beautiful tomes authored and illustrated by naturalists of prior centuries. Published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these were works that helped lay the foundation for the modern study of entomology and introduced their readers—including a young Russian boy who would become one of the most celebrated novelists of the 20th century—to the mesmerizing beauty of the order Lepidoptera.

In this section of our online exhibit we examine the beautiful volumes that Nabokov praised in his New Yorker piece, along with the authors behind them, many of whom led fascinating and groundbreaking lives that could rival the adventures of any literary protagonist. As a browse through these fascinating works and their backstories makes clear, these volumes are no mere curios. Looming large in Nabokov's personal recollections of his childhood fascination with the beauty and mystery of butterflies, they also present a good look at the development of scientific thought over past centuries. And they even offer some food for thought on questions of growing currency in study of the life sciences today: the powerful new perspectives that emerge where science and art intersect; impactful legacies created by knowledge and collections shared freely between contemporaries and across generations; and—of particular relevance for important discussions taking place among 21st century educators—the profound impact that youthful explorations in nature can have on the work we undertake and the understanding we achieve about the world around us over our lifetime.