Maria Sibylla Merian - Entomologist and Artist

Maria Sibylla Merian - Entomologist and Artist

Pages from Maria Sibylla Merian's work in botanical drawing

Keenly observant entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian was the first to study and depict the metamorphosis of insects in the field. She taught girls botanical drawing and sold her specimens, prints, and books to earn a living. Her first work, Der raupen wunderbare verwandlung, was published in Nuremberg between 1679 and 1683. Erucarum ortus is a reworking of Der raupen, translated into Latin by her daughter Dorothea. This copy includes many counterproofs, printed from a wet impression, to create a print in reverse. The collection also includes Merian’s De europische insecten (Amsterdam, 1730).

Maria Sibylla Merian

Joannem Oosterwyk

ca. 1718

Eliza Henne

Printed book

Printed book

Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, Duke University, Durham, NC. United States.