Description

About the book

This facsimile of one of the most beautiful books of natural history ever created contains sixty magnificent illustrations showing exotic insects, with the original descriptions. The reissue is the same size as the original and is enriched with an illustrated introduction about the life, work and significance of Maria Sibylla Merian, and a new scientific description of all the insects, animals and plants.

Worldfamous masterpiece

The life and work of this German woman who moved to the Netherlands has been the subject of international research by botanists, entomologists and historians concerned with the history of science, art, religion and economics. Her original works have been preserved in archives and museums all over the world, from Saint-Petersburg to New York, and have been the subject of countless publications, exhibitions and novels.

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About the author

Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (published in 1705) was the work of an extremely enterprising and independent woman, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). In 1699, along with her daughter, she travelled to Surinam to carry out research into the reproduction and development of insects. She is now regarded as both a highly gifted artist and an exceptional empirical scientist, one of the first to demolish the prevailing notion of the spontaneous generation of insects from mud.