This plate, drawn by John Obadiah Westwood for his book The Cabinet of Oriental Entomology, features the Stichopthalma camadeva or Northern Jungle Queen butterfly.

Few artists have captured bugs so beautifully or realistically as John Obadiah Westwood, a prolific 19th-century entomologist and archaeologist with unique artistic talent. The NCSU Libraries' natural history exhibit, "A Victorian Renaissance Man: John Obadiah Westwood," will feature Westwood's texts and artwork housed in the libraries Special Collections Department beginning Sept. 8.

The exhibit, located in the circulation lobby of the D. H. Hill Library, runs through Dec. 8. The Sept. 8 opening includes a 2 p.m. public talk by Dr. William Kimler, a history of science scholar at NC State. It will be followed by a reception.

The exhibit highlights Westwood's considerable artistic talents and scholarly work in entomology. Books in which Westwood was the primary author, illustrator or sponsor are featured. Many of his works, such as the 1848 volume The Cabinet of Oriental Entomology, are enriched with painted scenes of insect and plant life.

Westwood, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, did not accept the theory of evolution. The exhibit features Westwood's and Darwin's published debates in contemporary journals regarding the feasibility of natural selection, and includes facsimiles of their correspondence.

Westwood, trained to be a lawyer, instead pursued his avocations of entomology and archaeology to become one of the most prominent entomologists of his era. He was a curator and professor at Oxford University and served as an entomological referee for the Gardner’s Chronicle. Westwood also was a Fellow of the Linnean Society and president of the Entomological Society of London. Oxford University paid tribute to Westwood by conferring an honorary master's of arts degree on him and appointing him a Fellow of the Magdalen College.

The D.H. Hill Library is located on the NC State Brickyard, near the intersection of Hillsborough and Gardner streets, across from the Wachovia Bank building. It is wheelchair accessible. For information, call Caroline Weaver or Linda McCormick at 515-2273.