Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis
One Woman's Discovery of the Transformation of Butterflies and Insects
Discover the work of artist-naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian in this beautifully illustrated volume, its sixty full-plate colour engravings tracing the life cycle of butterflies and moths of South America.
Book Description
Discover the work of artist-naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian in this beautifully illustrated volume, its sixty full-plate colour engravings tracing the life cycle of butterflies and moths of South America.
Originally published in 1705, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium records Merian’s research expedition to Suriname in 1699. Her groundbreaking work documenting the transformation of insects yielded a wealth of scientific discoveries, captured vividly in richly detailed illustrations – results as beautiful as they are exact. Each plate is composed like a still life yet observed at specimen level: caterpillar, chrysalis, and emerged adult, arranged together with the very plant they feed on.
Over an expedition of almost two years, the German naturalist observed many native insects first hand and meticulously recorded her findings in the field, in a way that had not been done before. At a time when few women engaged in scientific study, her work challenged prevailing ideas about spontaneous generation and helped lay the foundations of modern entomology. Today, she is celebrated as one of the earliest women in entomology, pioneering in her discoveries and in her style of natural history illustration.
This edition reproduces Merian’s plates in their original colour and detail, accompanied by written extracts from the original volume. It celebrates the enduring legacy of her work as an artist-naturalist and honours her as a key figure in the history of women in science.
Publisher's Note
For the artist, the naturalist, and anyone with an eye for natural history illustration, Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis turns the study of insects into some of the most exquisite images ever printed.
One of the most joyful parts of our job is to explore the treasure troves of historical books to find examples that really embody the idea of Art Meets Science. It’s particularly satisfying when we come across an object that utilises the new methods and technology of its time in a way that makes the work feel timeless, even though it is centuries old. The brilliant detail in the copperplate engraving, the vibrancy of the colours, and the hand-finished touches that made the insects appear alive was enough to grab our attention, but when we dug deeper, it’s Merian’s story that really drives it home. Her story of self-funded determination to change the scientific record, and ultimately the traditional style of natural history illustration, really resonated. Being the first to observe and record the new idea of metamorphosis is quite the feat, especially as a woman scientist at the time. The result of Merian’s studies is not only breathtaking but also essential to our understanding of entomology. Her story deserves to be told, and it’s an honour to bring her images back into print.
“I was lucky enough to see the original 1705 edition of Merian’s Metamorphosis in person and I’ve been captivated by her work ever since. It is one of the most beautiful objects I have ever seen. I have recently been watching moths emerge with my child; witnessing the moths’ life cycle has helped me understand why the remarkable concept of metamorphosis was hard to believe at the time of discovery.”— Rose, Publisher
Book Features:
- Sixty full-plate facsimile prints from Maria Sibylla Merian’s 1705 Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium.
- Each illustration displaying South American butterflies, moths, and their host plants.
- Merian was one of the first naturalists to study insect life cycles in the field, on a self-funded expedition to Suriname.
- A landmark of natural history illustration, and one of the first books to show insects with the plants they lived on.
- A unique gift and coffee table book for artists, naturalists, and lovers of botanical art.
Table of Contents:
Contents:
- Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis: The Discoveries of an Artist-Naturalist
- Maria Sibylla Merian: A Biography by Elizabeth Fries Ellet, 1859
- The Metamorphoses of Insects by William Kirby, 1828
- To the Reader: Preface to Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium by Maria Sibylla Merian, 1705
- Plates
- The Future of Women in Science by H. J. Mozans, 1913
- Sources and Further Reading
Editorial Reviews:
“One of the most magnificent works ever produced.”—Samuel Miller, 1803
“So fond was she of flowers and insects that it is said they told her all their secrets.”—H. J. Mozans, 1913
“Her books, from their pure science and great perseverance, give one the idea of a person lifted above the world of persons, and wholly devoted to art and nature.”—Jules Michelet, 1875
Extract
“Sibylla in Suriname goes to seek nature,
With the mind of a Sage, and the heart of a Hero.”
—Ellet, 1859
Throughout history, the stories of remarkable women who defied societal norms are often outnumbered by the narratives of their male counterparts. For Maria Sibylla Merian, her work as a pioneering artist-naturalist in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries is an exceptional example of a female scientist paving the way for the future of women in science. In a triumph of scientific enquiry and creative expression, each plate in Metamorphosis is brimming with life, the specimens compositionally staged to evoke a sense of reality. As one of the first in the field to question the relationships between organisms (which later helped disprove spontaneous generation), Merian’s documentation style encapsulated what she saw in nature firsthand in stunning form and colour.
—From the Introduction
Extract from Plate 4:
“I found this brown hair caterpillar on this herb eating leaves in June 1700 and fed it with them until the 12th of June when it transformed into a chrysalis, which stitches upon one of the leaves. On the 1st of July, a white and brown speckled butterfly emerged from it. Of this kind I have seen vast numbers flying about in the cassava fields… where I also observed their metamorphosis. “
—Maria Merian, 1705
More About This Work
Merian funded her Suriname expedition by selling a collection of her own paintings and specimens to pay for the voyage. She travelled with her younger daughter, Dorothea, and stayed for almost two years, before illness forced her home to Amsterdam in 1701, where she began the painstaking work of engraving and printing the plates. The book was issued in 1705 in an extravagant Dutch-and-Latin folio, its sixty plates drawn from her field studies and coloured by hand. Her ecological framing – showing every stage of an insect’s life cycle on a single page, alongside its host plant – was a breakthrough in natural history illustration that would take the better part of a century to equal.
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