Library, Museums and Press Staff
August 12, 2026

A View from the Vault: Capturing Nature's Beauty, One Butterfly at a Time

by Jaime Margalotti, associate librarian and archival metadata librarian

 

To create his remarkable two-volume work As Nature Shows Them: Moths and Butterflies of the United States, East of the Rocky Mountains (1900), Sherman Foote Denton employed a less common subset of nature printing  known as lepidochromy. Rather than relying solely on illustrations, Denton transferred each butterfly or moth directly onto the page, preserving the delicate scales and natural pigments of the specimen. The insect’s body was then added using a copper engraving and carefully hand-colored.

 

The title page of a book titled "As Nature Shows Them: Moths and Butterflies of the United States East of the Rocky Mountains" by Sherman F. Denton. The centered text features red and black lettering, identifying the volume as "Volume II: The Butterflies," published by J. B. Millet Company, Boston.

 

Because every specimen was unique, no two copies of the book are exactly alike. Producing the limited edition required more than 50,000 individual insects, making it an extremely ambitious undertaking in  natural history publishing. The University of Delaware Library’s Special Collections is home to copy number 8 of the 500 copies produced.

 

An open book spread from an antique entomology text showing butterfly illustrations labelled Grapta interrogationis. The left page features two black-and-white photos, while the right page displays two color illustrations of orange-brown butterflies with scalloped wings.

 

An open book spread showing illustrations of swallowtail butterflies (Papilio turnus and Papilio glaucus). The left page contains text around a black-and-white photo of a dark swallowtail, while the right page features two full-color illustrations of yellow and black tiger swallowtails.

 

An open book spread illustrating the life cycle and appearance of the monarch butterfly (Danais archippus). The left page shows line drawings of a caterpillar and chrysalis within descriptive text, while the right page displays two detailed, full-color illustrations of monarch butterflies with their classic orange and black patterns.

 

Born in 1856, Sherman Foote Denton began his career as an artist with the United States Fish Commission, where he gained recognition for his scientific illustrations and innovations in fish taxidermy. He later founded the Denton Brothers Company with his younger siblings, producing lifelike plaster butterfly mounts using a patented technique that further showcased his passion for blending science, art, and natural history.

 

“A View from the Vault” showcases some of the unique, notable or rare items that are a part of the Special Collections and Museums holdings at the University of Delaware. Each month, we highlight a different work and share interesting facts or intriguing histories about it. If you are interested in seeing any of the materials featured in person or want to learn more about any work showcased in the series, please contact Special Collections and Museums at AskSpec or AskMuseums.