Kurze Einleitung zur Kenntniss der Insekten für Ungeubte und Anfänger
Berlin : G.A. Lange, 1784-1787.

Call no: QL463.H4 1784

Born in Petershagen bei Minden, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst (1743-1807) was best known for joining Carl Gustav Jablonsky in the Sisyphean effort to produce a comprehensive survey of the Order Coleoptera (beetles), an enormous task that resulted in the massive, but still incomplete Naturgeschichte der in-und ausländischen Insekten, 10 vols. (1785-1806).

An energetic and prolific author of essential works in entomology, his smaller Kurze Einleitung (a mere three volumes) attempts to survey the major taxa of what is now considered the phyllum arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and scorpions. The illustrations are by D. F. Sotzmann.