Eleazar Albin, a German trained painter, was a well-established
teacher of watercolour painting in England when he met the great British naturalist
Joseph Dandridge. It is probable that this meeting led to Albin cultivating the
interest of wealthy patrons such as Sir Hans Sloane to record their collections.
His reputation and connections grew to such that his first publication
eventually attracted over 170 subscribers.

A
Natural History of English Insects contained 100 copper plates
in black and white, which could be hand coloured at request for an additional
charge. Many plates were coloured by his daughter Elizabeth, the
first English women recorded as a painter and delineator of birds. First
issued in 1720, Albin’s work appeared at a time when the pervasive attitude had
been that the study of insects was not a matter for serious scientific interest.
Albin stressed that the insects depicted were copied ‘exactly after the Life’
as the artists who had preceded him failed to observe carefully or exercised
extreme artistic license rendering the images in either instance without
scientific merit.

Albin’s great care and consideration in the
faithful rendering of his subjects was instrumental in encouraging a serious
study of natural history amongst the educated classes in England and in
continental Europe. A Natural History of English Insects is considered one of the most important works,
and Albin one of the greatest artists, of 18th century entomology.