The relationship between John Abbot and William Swainson - who never met in person - is explored in this volume. The book also showcases, for the first time, the complete set of original, full-color illustrations discovered in 1977 in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.

Janice Neri (1970-2016) was professor of art history at Boise State University. She was author of The Insect and the Image: Visualizing Nature in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700.

Tara Nummedal is associate professor of history and Italian studies at Brown University. She is author of Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire and Anna Zieglerin and the Lion's Blood: Alchemy and End Times in Reformation Germany.

John V. Calhoun is a research associate at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in Gainesville, Florida. He is coauthor of Butterflies through Binoculars: A Field, Finding, and Gardening Guide to Butterflies in Florida.