De Europische Insecten, Naauwkeurig onderzogt, na 't leven geschildert, en in print gebragt door. Amsterdam: J. F. Bernard, 1730.

MERIAN, Maria Sibylla (1647-1717)
De Europische Insecten, Naauwkeurig onderzogt, na 't leven geschildert, en in print gebragt door. Amsterdam: J. F. Bernard, 1730.
The work on the insects of Europe by the naturalist-artist Maria Sibylla Merian, whose 'careful and deliberate portrayal of insect and host plant together had no precedent in scientific illustration' (Blunt and Stearn). Born in Frankfurt in 1647, Merian was the daughter of the engraver Matthäus Merian and step-daughter of the flower painter Jacob Marrel. She studied miniature painting and became interested in insects from an early age, capturing and drawing specimens from life. Merian’s scientific work is notable for its accurate observation of insect life and transformation in an age when spontaneous generation was still widely accepted. She published the first two parts of her work on the insects of Europe in 1679 and 1683, and was still immersed in preparing the third part for publication at her death almost 60 years later. The final volume would be completed by her daughters. The present 1730 edition was published by J.F. Bernard, who had purchased the plates of both the completed Raupenbuch and Merians’s very rare first work, Blumenbuch. Nissen 1342 (calling for 186 plates in error).

Folio (550 x 380mm). Half title, title page printed in red and black with hand-colored engraved vignettes on the title and final page; 184 hand-coloured engravings on 47 sheets (a few spots, some light even toning, repaired marginal tear just into plate LVII but without loss, one or two other very short and insignificant marginal tears). Modern calf preserving earlier calf spine, marbled paper stuck over the top of the covers, uncut (extremities rubbed). Provenance: purchased at Galerie Koller, 24 September 1996, lot 404.

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