HENRY DOUBLEDAY, EPPING NATURALIST 319
Interested as he was, all his life, in birds, he became more and
more drawn towards insects, and it is in the field of entomology
that he is best remembered. His quite remarkable captures of
rare moths and butterflies in the Epping neighbourhood are
astonishing in view of the methods he used and his frequent
fights against ill-health, for Doubleday often suffered from a
rheumatic complaint. His shyness and modesty as a man have
already been mentioned and this may have been partly due to his
physical environment; he lived in Epping in very plain fashion,
eschewing all luxuries, and for the latter part of his life, when
the rest of his family had gone, was looked after by a distant
cousin, Ann Main.
There were two men in Doubleday's life with similar interests
to his own, with whom he became great friends; they were
Edward Newman and Achille Guenee. Newman, a fellow Quaker,
is of course well-known as the Editor, for no less than 33 con-
secutive years, of The Zoologist, until he died in 1876. He is
known also for his work on British Insects, Ferns, and perhaps the
best known, his History of British Butterflies, and History of
Moths. It was when Newman was writing the last-named two
books that his friend Doubleday was able to render him con-
spicuous assistance, and indeed it was Doubleday to whom New-
man turned throughout his life, whenever he wanted advice or
guidance. Newman frequently acknowledged his debt to him, and
the preface of his "Moths" contains the following paragraph: —
"An imperative but most agreeable duty remains—that of
thanking those kind friends who have rendered me such
important services during the progress of this work. And
first Mr Doubleday, through whose hands every sheet and
every column has passed. Many omissions have been sup-
plied and many errors expunged. An almost perfect blank
has hitherto existed as to the times of appearance of our
lepidoptera in the perfect state, and my own experience
was insufficient to supply this blank".
Doubleday looked upon his other friend Guenee as head-and-
shoulders above the rest of the Continental entomologists of that
time, in the same way that he himself was looked upon by
Newman and many others, in this country. It is not known how
Doubleday first contacted Guenee, but it is clear from numerous
references made to him that Doubleday had a very high regard
for him, and over a period of many years they corresponded and
exchanged insects. It is very doubtful indeed if Doubleday's
letters to Guenee still exist, as Guenee's collection of Lepidoptera
was bought by Charles Oberthur, and this has found a resting-
place, in the main, in our British Museum. No correspondence
was passed with the collection and it is more than likely it was
destroyed.
It was in July 1843 that Doubleday decided to pay Guenee a
visit, and also to take the opportunity of examining the Paris
collections of insects, and meet other French naturalists. He had