Description
Description of Maria S. Merian's Erucarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis
These masterful engravings are from the first Latin edition of the work entitled Erucarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis by the famed Maria Sibylla Merian. This edition was published by J. Oosterwyk in Amsterdam in 1718, one year after the author's death. There were also German and French editions of this work published in the early 1700s. Merian, the daughter of Mattheaus Merian, found her interest early in life when she began studying entomology at the young age of 13. Her interest and talents paid off as she is known as one of the most remarkable naturalists of the 17th and 18th centuries, and many of her illustrations ended up in the hands of Tsar Peter the Great. "The work of these years consisted of both scientific and artistic activity: Merian collected and raised insects, fed them with their host plants, observed them, described and drew their metamorphoses from egg to caterpillar and from pupa to butterfly imago. She then compiled her individual observations and studies in pictorial compositions" (Maria Sibylla Merian, Artist and Naturalist 1647-1717, p. 103) These prints are on fine chain-linked paper that measures ~6" by 7 3/4" and feature recently applied hand-coloring.