Introduction : the painted lady
Chasing the clouded yellow
Graylings : the birth of a passion
Gatekeepers : collecting with Jean Froissart, John Fowles and Vladimir Nabokov
Lady Glanville's fritillary
At the sign of the chequered skipper
The golden hog or the wonderful names of butterflies
Fire and brimstone : butterflies and the imagination
Silver washes and pearl borders : painting butterflies
Endgame : the large blue and other dropouts
The wall or how to protect a butterfly
Envoi : Aurora or the daughter of dawn
Appendix : British butterflies.