John Gottlieb Morris was the first librarian of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, founder of Lutherville, Maryland, and of the Lutherville Female Academy, an early geological and botanical scientist whose specimens from nature were fundamental to the development of the early Smithsonian Institution, and a nationally prominent Lutheran pastor. From the relationship between geology and biblical revelation to the need for American leadership in science, this combative clergyman fought continually for the advancement of knowledge, culture and morality.

With 32 pages of full-color inserts and black-and-white illustrations throughout. From one of our most highly regarded historians, here is an original and engrossing chronicle of nineteenth-century America's infatuation with butterflies—“flying flowers”—and the story of the naturalists who unveiled the mysteries of their existence. A product of William Leach's lifelong love of butterflies, this engaging and elegantly illustrated history shows how Americans from all walks of life passionately pursued butterflies, and how through their discoveries and observations they transformed the character of natural history. In a book as full of life as the subjects themselves and foregrounding a collecting culture now on the brink of vanishing, Leach reveals how the beauty of butterflies led Americans into a deeper understanding of the natural world.