RES Library Christmas Card Collection by Frank Nelson Pierce

Frank Nelson Pierce, 1862 – 1943

The RES Archive contains one particularly festive box, containing a selection of unusual Christmas and New Years cards, sent by some very creative entomologists.

Frank Nelson Pierce, born in Liverpool to a successful tobacconist father in 1862, was elected to the RES in 1891 and is best known for his series of books on the genitalia of Lepidoptera. However, every Christmas from 1902 to 1940 he sent home made entomologically themed cards to friends and family, which reveal a surreal sense of humour. The first card, sent in 1902, shows a heavily laden entomologist exploring Wicken Fen nature reserve in Cambridgeshire, a popular spot for entomological fieldwork, which had been donated to the National Trust the previous year.

Pierce, the oldest of three children, was a keen Lepidopterist from an early age, noted as collecting butterflies from the age of six, and carrying out frequent field trips to collect insects throughout his life.

He was active in a number of Entomological and related Societies, joining the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society (LCES) in 1881 and remaining an active member for 62 years. He held numerous offices within the Society, and was elected an Honorary Member in 1919. Likely inspired by a paper on the subject by a fellow Member of the LCES, in 1891 he published his first article on the genitalia of Lepidoptera in “The British Naturalist”, titled “Notes on the genital armature of the genus miana”. He the joined the RES in the same year, remaining a member, though not an active one, for over fifty years. He was also a member of the Liverpool Microscopical Society; where he was known for his skill in producing microscope slides, which were vital for the detailed study of his chose topic. He was elected President of the Society in 1910.

He wrote six books on the subject of Lepidoptera genitalia, covering all known British species. The first volume, published in 1909, covered the male Noctuidae and was accompanied by extensive illustrations, and the last, published in 1942, covered the female of the same family.

In addition to his entomological work and the tobacconist business he and his brother Grenville inherited following the death of their father in 1893, Pierce also devoted five nights a week to “Colly Kids Gymnasium”, a charity he founded to help children living near the Coliseum Mission in Liverpool, which earned him the nickname “Slum Bishop of Liverpool”.

He never married or had children but lived with his siblings until 1919 when he dissolved his business and retired to the village of Warmington in Northamptonshire, where he lived until his death in 1943. Mourners at his funeral included his sister, Miss E. Pierce, and nephew, Captain E.N. Gibbons. His collection of Lepidoptera specimens was left to Liverpool Museum, and his correspondence and other papers are now held by the Natural History Museum.

Following his death, Pierce’s friend, the medical entomologist Robert Newstead, declared that “Pierce’s fine work on the genital armature of the Lepidoptera will form a lasting memorial to his skill and care.”

Text by RES Librarian and Archivist Rose Pearson. Thank you to Fran Sconce, Jim Hardie, Richard Harrington and u/BlackHeartRaven for help with identification of the insect species featured on the cards. The cards, together with other material from the RES Archive, were digitised by Wiley Digital Archives and can be accessed as part of the Environmental Science and History Collection.

We’ve collated some examples from Frank Nelson Pierce‘s collection for display on this page. We hope that you enjoy them.

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Invertebrates Fight Back (1905-1932)

A number of cards feature invertebrates fighting back against vertebrates, both human and animal. In one card, (Fig. 2) a caveman sneaks up on an unsuspecting caterpillar, unaware that something much larger is sneaking up on him. In another (Fig. 3) a very hungry caterpillar catches an unfortunate lepidopterist and consumes him whole, while a lucky butterfly flutters free of his discarded net. Another card (Fig. 10) shows a giant mosquito chasing a terrified entomologist. Insects also take on other vertebrates; a beetle with four tiny boxing gloves squares up to a duck, (Fig. 8) and another card shows a caddis fly larvae and a crocodile staring each other down. (Fig. 9).

Insect Genitalia (1908-1912 and 1934-1941)

Some of the cards showcase the artist’s professional speciality: Lepidoptera genitalia. Several cards from the 1930 and 40s (Figs. 14-19) simply feature festively coloured diagrams of the subject, while others show a more humorous tone, including one card from 1909, (Fig. 12) when aviation was something of a novelty, featuring an entomologist reacting in shock to a plane with some unusual appendages. If any keen eyed lepidopterists can identify the species, we would be fascinated to hear. On a similar note, in a card from 1912 (Fig. 13) a caterpillar relaxes with Pierce’s volume on Geometridae genitalia, and a cigar, and a card from 1908 (Fig. 11) shows an entomologist in an distinctive hat studying Lepidoptera genitalia, while sitting on a stack of Pierce’s books on the same subject.

World War I (1914-1918)

During WWI the cards take on a more sombre tone. The 1914 card (Fig. 20) depicts insects symbolising different nations involved in WWI. The following year, a moth, (possibly a Cliften Nonpareil) flutters between two candles burning for ‘War’ and ‘Peace’, reflecting uncertainty about what 1916 might hold. (Fig. 21). The following year a caterpillar in the allied colours returns to a tree whose branches spell out ‘War’, (Fig. 22) while two years later, following the end of war in the November of 1918, the tree spells out a happier message. (Fig. 24).

Retirement (1920-1937)

Following the end of WWI and Pierce’s retirement to the countryside in 1919, the cards take on a happier tone, with cards focussing on the natural world, such as the card from 1920 (Fig. 25), which shows two pigs jumping over a fence, and another (Fig. 26) showing an oak leaf surrounded by three butterflies. (From left to right: probably a Brimstone Moth, an unknown species, a Peach Blossom Moth.) A third card shows a frog eyeing up a caterpillar. (Fig. 28) A number of cards feature entomologists expressing surprise and delight on encountering Lepidoptera, and in one case (Fig. 29) a short-sighted insect spotter mistakes a bow for a butterfly. The Entomologist depicted on a card from 1925 who is armed with a large entomological pin chases after an unusual prey, that of the Lobster Moth Caterpillar. (Fig. 30).

Greetings Cards by Robert Maxwell Prideaux and Hugh Main

Pierce was not the only creative entomologist; the RES Archive includes several other home made greetings cards.

Three cards (Figs. 35-37) feature an unusual type of printing known as Lepidochromy, or prints made from real butterflies. The illustrations are made by placing the wings of a butterfly between two sheets of paper, one of which is gummed, and applying pressure, creating a print from the scales of the insect, with the antenna and body drawn in later in ink. The cards were sent in the 1900s by Robert Maxwell Prideaux, of Sevenoaks, Kent, who joined the Society in the same year, and was a member for over thirty years, serving on council in 1917. In a 1908 article in The Entomologist he discusses a trip to Berisal, Switzerland, where he recorded a number of butterfly species, including the heath fritillary butterfly featured on the card from 1907, addressed to ‘Dr and the misses Chapman’ (Fig. 37). Thomas Algernon Chapman was a Scottish physician and Vice President of the Society for several terms between 1900 and 1917. Following his death in 1921 ‘the misses Chapman’, his sisters Emily and Laura, donated £500 to the Society in his memory.

The final New Year’s card (Fig. 38) from 1903 features a photograph of a butterfly sitting on a sugar lump. The sender, Hugh Main was an enthusiastic insect photographer, speaking on the subject at several RES meetings, and providing photographs for publications such as Evelyn Cheesman’s 1924 book for children Everyday doings of insects. He was elected a Special Life Fellow of the Society in 1945. The recipient Henry Jerome Turner was a schoolmaster, who edited The Entomologist’s Record and Journal of Variation from 1911-1950. From 1921-29, he served as the honorary Librarian of the Society, overseeing its move to Queen’s Gate, opposite the Natural History Museum in London, as well as donating a number of volumes from his own library to the Society’s collections. In 1948 he was made a Special Life Fellow of the RES.

Thank you for viewing. We hope you enjoyed this collection.

Spread the festive cheer with #InsectAdvent 🪲

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For more information on these pieces and any other entomological history, or to arrange a visit to the Library and Archive, send a note to our Librarian and Archivist at library@royensoc.co.uk.