Butterflies: 3

Isn't that calligraphic background spectacular? It's an original plate of a hand-drawn pen illustration from "Gaskell's Penman's Handbook" (1883) and there is a tiny butterfly in it toward the top right edge of the plate. Sections of other plates from "Golden Gems of Penmanship" (1884) make up the body and top layer of the large butterfly, and the handwork theme is carried over into the middle layer via the antique, hand-marbled endpapers. 

I liked the idea of combining the calligraphy with the printed lists, one of which is an almost tissue-thin page from the Holland "Butterfly Book" I've been mining.  The pages helped protect the color plates in the book, as well as identifying the butterflies. I used another one on April, where it became semi-transparent. 10.5" x 7.75" on archival mat board with ink, watercolor and specimen pins. In a cloth-covered, 11" x 8.5" shadowbox that is ready to hang.