Scientific Illustration
“The tactile delights of precise delineation, the silent paradise of the camera lucida, and the precision of poetry in taxonomic description represent the artistic side of the thrill that accumulation of new knowledge... gives its first begetter.”
–Vladimir Nabokov in an interview with Alfred Appel Jr Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, Vol. 8, No. 2, A Special Number Devoted to Vladimir Nabokov (Spring, 1967), pp. 127-152
Scientific Illustration
Scientific illustrations are critical for noting precise morphological details of a specimen that are important for identification. Nabokov drew over a thousand technical illustrations of the microscopic details of butterfly anatomy, primarily focused on genitalia and wings. These drawings and his accompanying notes give insight into, amongst other things, how Nabokov described new species and genera, and how his theory regarding the migration and evolution of the Blues emerged from the close study and comparison of hundreds of specimens.
Wing Veins
The study of wing venation can help entomologists determine differences between various types of insects, and accurate diagrams are essential for this practice. As a lepidopterist, Nabokov mapped out wing veins and precise markings of the butterflies he studied. Here the veining is labeled on a drawing included in Samuel Scudder's The Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada with Special Reference to New England (1889).
To the right: This wing is labeled to show the costa, subcostal vein, branches of the radius wing vein, median wing vein, and cubital wing vein, as well as the anal wing vein.
Camera Lucida
The camera lucida is an optical device for aiding in drawing. Historically, artists and scientists used a camera lucida to maximize their accuracy. When paired with a microscope, the camera lucida can allow a scientist to trace even the smallest details of a specimen with specificity. This combination remained a standard tool of microscopists up until the 1980’s, and was what Nabokov used for his scientific drawings of butterfly anatomy.
Fine Lines
Nabokov once said he was “born a painter” and as a boy he had ambitions to be one. At the age of forty-five he wrote with pride to his childhood drawing teacher, a renowned artist, of the hundreds of drawings of butterflies he had made. It is clear that while these butterfly drawings have a scientific purpose, their detailing also reveals an aesthetic pleasure. The 2016 publication Fine Lines (Yale University Press) edited by Stephen H Blackwell and Kurt Johnson reproduces 154 of Nabokov’s drawings. This volume also includes essays by ten scientists and Nabokov specialists emphasizing the importance of his contributions to evolutionary biology and systematics, and showcasing his unique artistic perception and creativity as seen through his drawings and scientific documents.
The vast majority of Nabokov's original scientific illustrations are held in the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library: Nabokov drawings