Documentary analysis supports 1858 publication date for Guenée’s geometrid moth volumes

A documentary analysis of Achille Guenée’s two volumes on Geometridae finds that 1858 is the better-supported publication year, rather than the 1857 date printed on the text. The authors conclude that the earliest demonstrated date for volume 9 falls between 2 and 8 January 1858, while volume 10 is recorded in a contemporary French bibliography under 20 March 1858.

Guenée’s Geometridae et Uranides formed volumes 9 and 10 of Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Général des Lépidoptères, written under the joint editorship of J.B.A.D. Boisduval and Guenée. Both text volumes bear the imprint 1857, whereas the accompanying Atlas of plates bears 1858. Because publication dates affect the availability of zoological names, the authors reviewed contemporary catalogues, correspondence and entomological periodicals to determine when the volumes became publicly available.

The disagreement has persisted among geometrid specialists. L.B. Prout cited Guenée 1858 in works published from 1910 to 1912. D.S. Fletcher’s 1979 treatment of generic names cited 1857 for the text and 1858 for the Atlas. Parsons and colleagues adopted Guenée [1858] in 1999 without explaining the change, while Hausmann used [1858] in his references but “1857 ff” in his introductory list of major works. A 2022 paper on a global Geometridae taxonomic facility used Guenée, 1858. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility’s Geometridae component, as accessed on 13 August 2022, also mixed the dates within the same volumes.

Contemporary evidence comes from the Bibliographie de la France, which listed the full reference for volume 9 on page 17 under entry 338. That entry appeared in Tome 2, No. 2, dated 8 January 1858. The reference for volume 10 appeared on page 153 under entry 2877 in Tome 2, No. 12, dated 20 March 1858. Because the bibliography assigned dates collectively to each numbered issue rather than to individual entries, these listings establish that both publications were known to the contemporary bibliographic record in 1858, but they do not by themselves identify the first day on which either volume was available.

The authors also examined an article in The Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligencer dated Saturday, 9 January 1858. The article, which the authors attribute to H.T. Stainton, described repeated delays in the expected appearance of Guenée’s work and expressed frustration that a promised December publication date had passed. A note added after the main text announced that the first volume of Guenée’s Geometrae had been received. The previous issue, dated 2 January, did not announce its receipt. Together, this sequence supports a publication interval of 2–8 January 1858 for volume 9.

Earlier evidence explains the printed date of 1857. Stainton had seen proofs during a visit to Guenée in April 1857 and was told that publication would take place in September, although the volume did not appear then. Subsequent promises placed release at the end of November, then 20 December, and finally in January. In a 2019 paper focused primarily on dating H.T. Stainton’s Manual of British Butterflies and Moths, R.B. Williams showed that Stainton delayed parts of his own work to await Guenée’s results. Williams likewise concluded that Guenée’s volumes 9 and 10 were published in 1858.

Guenée’s correspondence with Stainton distinguishes printing from publication. In a letter dated 26 September 1857, Guenée reported that volume 9 had been printed and that the plates were ready, but said the publisher would bring out both volumes together. He also said he had written to the publisher to urge faster release and could not give a precise publication date. The letter indicates that the 1857 imprint did not, by itself, mean that the work had then been issued to the public. It does not establish the exact day on which the bound volumes became obtainable.

For volume 10, the evidence is less precise about first availability. It was still awaited on 3 February 1858, and Stainton had received a copy by 23 February, although the source does not establish whether that copy was an advance copy or the published version. The Bibliographie de la France listed it under 20 March, while Williams inferred a publication interval of 13–19 March from the issue structure. The authors therefore treat the precise dating of volume 10 as less firmly established than the January evidence for volume 9.

Applying Article 21 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, the authors state that when the actual date differs from the imprint, the earliest day demonstrated to be the date of publication should be adopted. Their central conclusion is that the weight of external evidence supports [1858], with 2–8 January 1858 proposed for volume 9 and 20 March recorded for the bibliographic listing of volume 10. The analysis is historical rather than experimental, and its conclusion rests on the interpretation of contemporary records. Its principal limitation is the absence of a documented first day of public availability for volume 10 and the uncertain status of Stainton’s early copy.

Subject of Research: Historical documentation of the publication date of Guenée’s Geometridae et Uranides volumes

Article Title: The date of publication of A. Guenée’s Geometridae et Uranides, Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Général des Lépidoptères

Article References: Scoble, M. J., & Pitkin, L. M. (2024). The date of publication of A. Guenée’s Geometridae et Uranides, Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Général des Lépidoptères. Nota Lepidopterologica, 47, 43-47. https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.47.118555

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/nl.47.118555

Keywords: taxonomy, Geometridae, publication history, Achille Guenée, zoological nomenclature, bibliographic dating, H.T. Stainton, ICZN, Lepidoptera, date, publication, Guen