Eugène Simon (1848-1924), arachnologist, author... Lot 51

Eugène Simon (1848-1924), arachnologist, author of Histoire naturelle des araignées (1864-1884) and Arachnides de France. L.A.S. Paris, 7 April 1880. 2 pp. in-12. Identification of a spider. "The spider you are communicating to me is the Selenocosmia javanensis Walck, a dismembered genus of Walck's tarantulas. I know absolutely nothing about its habits. In its pitiful state, this spider cannot be prepared ...". It evokes the writings of the naturalist and erpetologist Victor Collin de Plancy (1853-1922) who travelled to China. "Mr. Collin de Plancy recently sent two large crates of natural history objects containing mainly birds and reptiles; two vials of arachnids intended for me contained only a few species and several individuals of the Bultus confucios; it must be believed that there is only one species of scorpion in Beijing. I thank you in advance for the arachnids of Senegal; I have almost nothing from this region ...". Rare.