Philip Henry Gosse's detailed watercolors of Alabama's native insects and plants represent a landmark in the annals of American natural history. Offered for the first time are the complete full-color illustrations from Gosse's Entomologia Alabamensis, along with a biographical essay placing Gosse's work in the context of his long and fruitful life.

Born in 1810 in Worcester, England, the young Philip Henry Gosse developed a passion for the natural world. Having learned the basics of miniature portraiture from his father, Gosse quickly took for his artistic subjects the...