Henry Noel Humphreys
Illustration — The back cover of Humphreys' Coinage of the British Empire (1855), in a papier-mâché binding also designed by Humphreys. Henry Noel Humphreys (1810–1879), was a British illustrator, naturalist, entomologist, and numismatist. Humphreys was born on 4 January 1810 in Birmingham, the son of James Humphreys, and was educated at King Edward's School there.
Also recorded as Noel Humphreys · H. Noel Humphreys · Henry Noel Humphries
Henry Noel Humphreys
![Four British wild flowers, including marsh and purple helleborines (Epipactis species). Coloured lithograph, c. 1846, after H. Humphreys., [1846], by Henry Noel Humphreys](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0044099ER/full/1280,/0/default.jpg)
Henry Noel Humphreys · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection · Public Domain Mark
- Born
- Henry Noel Humphreys was born on 4 January 1810. · Birmingham.
- Died
- Henry Noel Humphreys died on 10 June 1879. · London.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- illustrator · writer · numismatist · lepidopterist · art historian · artist
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — The back cover of Humphreys' Coinage of the British Empire (1855), in a papier-mâché binding also designed by Humphreys. Henry Noel Humphreys (1810–1879), was a British illustrator, naturalist, entomologist, and numismatist. Humphreys was born on 4 January 1810 in Birmingham, the son of James Humphreys, and was educated at King Edward's School there.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Henry Noel Humphreys. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1607088 · wikipedia · Henry Noel Humphreys
In this article
Works
Works
He studied medieval manuscripts in Italy as a young man, and became an accomplished scholar in numerous subjects. In addition to his entomological texts, Humphreys wrote works on ancient Greek and Roman coins, archaeology, and the art of writing and printing. He died on 10 June 1879.
• A Record of the Black Prince. A Series of original passages from the chroniclers relating to the career and exploits of Edward the Black Prince; enriched with highly-wrought illuminations from different Manuscripts referring to the history of the period. In a elaborate pierced paper mache binding. London: Longman and Co, 1850. • British Moths and Their Transformations. With John Obadiah Westwood London: William Smith, 1843–1845. 2 Volumes. • The Parables of Our Lord.. New York: D. Appleton, 1848. London: Longman and Co, 1847. • The Miracles of Our Lord. 1848. • The Coins of England. William Smith, London. 1848. • Maxims and Precepts of the Saviour. • The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages, (large folio): a Series of Magnificent Specimens, of the size of the originals, from the finest illuminated MSS. From the 4th to the 17th Century. London Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1849. • The Book of Ruth. London, Longman and Co, 1850. • Sentiments and Similes of William Shakespeare. London, Longman Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts, 1851 & 1857. • Art of Illumination. (18) - a manual on the technique of illumination. It contains high-quality chromolithographs, some printed in fourteen different colors. It is bound in white leather with a chromolithograph paper label inset into the binding and lined with gold. • The Butterfly Vivarium., or Insect Home: Being an Account of a New Method of Observing the Curious Metamorphoses of Some of the Most Beautiful of Our Native Insects, Comprising also a Popular Description of the Habits and Instincts of Many of the Insects of the Various Classes Referred to, with Suggestions for the Successful Study of Entomology by Means of an Insect Vivarium. London: William Lay, King William Street, Strand, 1853. • The Coinage of the British Empire.: An outline of the Progress of the coinage in Great Britain and her dependencies, from the earliest period to the present time. Published David Bogue, Fleet Stteet, 1855 with plates worked in gold silver & copper. • Ancient Coins: being a concise account of the origin of the art of coining, its early progress, highest development, and its gradual decay with the decline of the Roman Empire. Illustrated by a number of specimens in relief, in gold, silver and copper, in positive facsimile of the originals. Grant & Griffith, 1850. • River Gardens: being an account of the best methods of cultivating fresh-water plants in aquaria in such a manner as to afford suitable abodes to ornamental fish, and many interesting kinds of aquatic animals. Sampson Low, Son, and Co., London, 1857 • The Genera and Species of British Butterflies: being described and arranged according to the system adopted by the British Museum. Illustrated by 32 hand coloured lithographs of all the species then known to inhabit or visit the British Isles, including their caterpillars and the plants upon which they feed. London, Paul Gerrard & Son, 1859. • The Genera of British Moths • Insect Changes • A History of the Art of Printing, From its Invention to its Wide-Spread Development in the Middle of the 16th Century, Preceded by a Short Account of the Origin of the Alphabet, and the Successive Methods of Recording Events and Multiplying Ms. Books Before the Invention of Printing. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1867 (first issue).
![Six British wild flowers, including water pepper and knotweed (Polygonum species). Coloured lithograph, c. 1846, after H. Humphreys., [1846], by Henry Noel Humphreys](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0044099EL/full/800,/0/default.jpg)
Six British wild flowers, including water pepper and knotweed (Polygonum species). Coloured lithograph, c. 1846, after H. Humphreys., [1846], by Henry Noel Humphreys
Henry Noel Humphreys · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
![Six British wild flowers, including three types of trefoil (Lotus species). Coloured lithograph, c. 1856, after H. Humphreys., [1856], by Henry Noel Humphreys](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/V0044093ER/full/800,/0/default.jpg)
Six British wild flowers, including three types of trefoil (Lotus species). Coloured lithograph, c. 1856, after H. Humphreys., [1856], by Henry Noel Humphreys
Henry Noel Humphreys · Wellcome Collection, London · Wellcome Collection
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1810
Henry Noel Humphreys was born on 4 January 1810.
1879
Henry Noel Humphreys died on 1 January 1879.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Henry Noel Humphreys was born in Birmingham.
Birthplace
Henry Noel Humphreys died in London.
Deathplace
Birmingham.
Birth place
London.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Henry Noel Humphreys”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1607088: Henry Noel Humphreys
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.McLean, Ruari. Victorian publishers' book-bindings in paper. University of California Press. 1983. 9780520051027.
- 2.Humphreys, Henry Noel, in Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 28.
- 3.183.
- 4.Mellby, Julie L. Humphreys' Papier-Mâché Bindings. Graphic Arts. Princeton University Library.
- 5.Humphreys, Henry Noel. A history of the art of printing: from its invention to its wide-spread development in the middle of the 16th century : preceded by a short account of the origin of the alphabet and the successive methods of recording events and multiplying ms. books before the invention of printing. B. Quaritch. 1867. 10098603.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Illustration
5,224 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Henry HoweIllustrator
- Henry Justice FordIllustrator
- Henry LewisIllustrator
- Henry Marriott PagetIllustrator
- Henry RafterIllustrator
- Henry RitterIllustrator
- Henry RoxIllustrator
- Henry SaltIllustrator
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Henry Noel Humphreys?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.