Post by nomad on Nov 5, 2019 8:38:06 GMT
A Butterfly Without A Price.
While researching another subject, I came across this interesting piece published in the Entomologist 27: 65-66, 1894. It was reproduced from the British To-day Magazine Dec 9, 1893. The journalist from To-day wrote " In their quest of new species of butterflies, enthusiastic collectors are willing to face fevers of the swamps, the attacks of wild men of the jungles, and look upon, thirst, hunger, and tropical heat as inconsiderable trifles. The finest collection in the world - not excepting that in the British Museum - is that of Mr Berthold Neumoegen, of New York, who has spent A fortune in his search for rare specimens. Professional dealers issue catalogues, in which one finds names, with prices affixed. These prices vary from a few pence to £25. But fine types, beautiful and rare varieties and unique are practically priceless. For example one of the gems of the Neumoegen collection is the wonderful Papilio neumoegeni. This insect, the only one of its kind ever captured was taken on the island of Sumbawa, south-east of Java. Received in shipment from his collector, Mr Neumoegen at once concluded that it was new to science. He sent it to Europe, risking its loss, and the experts there decided that he was right. Honrath, the celebrated entomologist, begged the privilege of describing, and named in honour of the discoverer. It has been figured in the annals of the Berlin Entomology Society. It is a wonderful metallic green. Special expeditions have been sent to the locality several times since, in the hope of finding another, but this one still remains unique. Asked its value, Mr Neumoegen answered ; ' Who can say? It is the only one in the world. Suppose you offer me £50, which say certainly refuse, I could say to you ' I will give you £100 for its mate, and you could never fill my order. Then is it worth £100, is it not? But it is worth much more, for money can not buy it. Neumoegen is a stockbroker on Wall Street". £1 in 1893 is worth £126 today.
It is noticeable from this account that the reporter does not the mention who actually caught, the butterfly on Sumbawa in 1887, which could easily have been had from Neumoegen, which was William Doherty, who just like the Journalist had suggested did actually risk life and limb while collecting in the Far East many times and in 1893, when the article was written, he had been among dangerous natives on Jobie (Yapen), and was still sick from beri-beri when he visited Neumoegen in New York later that year. Doherty had his Sumbawa butterflies that included the new papilio in his possession for 4 years before he sold them to Neumoegen, and it was he that suggested to him it was a new species. Papilio neumoegeni is still as beautiful as it was all those years ago, but to day the males can be had for a few dollars, and the female for just a few dollars more.
Neumoegen had a remarkable collection that was said to contain 100,000 specimens, housed in cork-lined walnut cabinets on the top floor of his New York home. He is thought to have had at one point the third largest American collection, behind that of William Holland and Herman Strecker. Although wealthy, he got into financial difficulty and became bankrupt, a few years before his death from tuberculosis, aged 51. His widow had difficulty in selling his collection, but it was bought five years after his death by the Brooklyn Institute, and later the Smithsonian Institution purchased them.
While researching another subject, I came across this interesting piece published in the Entomologist 27: 65-66, 1894. It was reproduced from the British To-day Magazine Dec 9, 1893. The journalist from To-day wrote " In their quest of new species of butterflies, enthusiastic collectors are willing to face fevers of the swamps, the attacks of wild men of the jungles, and look upon, thirst, hunger, and tropical heat as inconsiderable trifles. The finest collection in the world - not excepting that in the British Museum - is that of Mr Berthold Neumoegen, of New York, who has spent A fortune in his search for rare specimens. Professional dealers issue catalogues, in which one finds names, with prices affixed. These prices vary from a few pence to £25. But fine types, beautiful and rare varieties and unique are practically priceless. For example one of the gems of the Neumoegen collection is the wonderful Papilio neumoegeni. This insect, the only one of its kind ever captured was taken on the island of Sumbawa, south-east of Java. Received in shipment from his collector, Mr Neumoegen at once concluded that it was new to science. He sent it to Europe, risking its loss, and the experts there decided that he was right. Honrath, the celebrated entomologist, begged the privilege of describing, and named in honour of the discoverer. It has been figured in the annals of the Berlin Entomology Society. It is a wonderful metallic green. Special expeditions have been sent to the locality several times since, in the hope of finding another, but this one still remains unique. Asked its value, Mr Neumoegen answered ; ' Who can say? It is the only one in the world. Suppose you offer me £50, which say certainly refuse, I could say to you ' I will give you £100 for its mate, and you could never fill my order. Then is it worth £100, is it not? But it is worth much more, for money can not buy it. Neumoegen is a stockbroker on Wall Street". £1 in 1893 is worth £126 today.
It is noticeable from this account that the reporter does not the mention who actually caught, the butterfly on Sumbawa in 1887, which could easily have been had from Neumoegen, which was William Doherty, who just like the Journalist had suggested did actually risk life and limb while collecting in the Far East many times and in 1893, when the article was written, he had been among dangerous natives on Jobie (Yapen), and was still sick from beri-beri when he visited Neumoegen in New York later that year. Doherty had his Sumbawa butterflies that included the new papilio in his possession for 4 years before he sold them to Neumoegen, and it was he that suggested to him it was a new species. Papilio neumoegeni is still as beautiful as it was all those years ago, but to day the males can be had for a few dollars, and the female for just a few dollars more.
Neumoegen had a remarkable collection that was said to contain 100,000 specimens, housed in cork-lined walnut cabinets on the top floor of his New York home. He is thought to have had at one point the third largest American collection, behind that of William Holland and Herman Strecker. Although wealthy, he got into financial difficulty and became bankrupt, a few years before his death from tuberculosis, aged 51. His widow had difficulty in selling his collection, but it was bought five years after his death by the Brooklyn Institute, and later the Smithsonian Institution purchased them.