The Butterfly: Flights of Enchantment

by Nigel Andrew

Overview

Understanding, loving and protecting butterflies—in all their enchantments.

Butterflies have enchanted and intrigued us for centuries. From the eighteenth-century 'aurelians', through the Victorian 'golden age' of collecting to the twentieth-century focus on conservation, humans have chased glimpses of these beautiful but elusive creatures. Winding through literature, art, music, and dreams, The Butterfly: Flights of Enchantment uncovers why butterflies continue to inhabit such a profound place in our imagination. Today, the art of butterfly-watching can be a mindfulness practice for many; a Romantic escape from our industrialized existences.

A first of its kind in combining the history of human interest in butterflies with a guide to practical observation, this pocket guide encourages us to nurture our curiosity and head out into our local environment, focusing on edgeland habitats that are home to many species.

It is perhaps because butterflies are so fragile and fleeting that we are so beguiled by them. But now, as numbers dwindle, they have never been more difficult to spot.

The Butterfly paves the way toward uncovering the history of our fascination with butterflies and learning how to spot and identify them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781916812338
Publisher:	Saraband
Publication date:	07/22/2025
Series:	In the Moment
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	4.40(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Nigel Andrew was educated at the University of Cambridge, after which he spent some years as a reference librarian, while also working as a critic and a feature writer for publications including the Times, Listener, Sunday Times, and Guardian/Observer. He then joined the staff of Radio Times before moving on to a full-time position at the Daily Mail. He now concentrates on his blog (Nigeness: A Hedonic Resource) and contributes to Literary Review and Slightly Foxed. His book, The Mother of Beauty: On the Golden Age of English Church Monuments, and Other Matters of Life and Death (2019) was described as “a wonderful book in every way, perfect for anyone interested in churches, in the lost corners of England, or in meditating on mortality.”

Table of Contents

I: A Personal History

My Butterfly Life

II: A History in Time

Early Times: A Slow Awakening of Interest

The Eighteenth Century: Enchanted Aurelians

Victorian Times: Men with Nets

Pins, Poisons and Field Guides

The Twentieth Century: Conservation, Citizen Science, New Wonders

The Mindful Present: Seeing and Being

III: A History in the Mind

The Parallel History: Dreams, Art, Literature, Music and Obsession

Meanings and Lessons

IV: Into Butterfly Country

Where Are the Butterflies?

Practicalities

Questions and Answers

The Butterflies, and Where (and When) to Find Them