Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium
By Maria Sibylla Merian, 1647-1717
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) sailed to Suriname in 1699 with her daughter Dorothea Maria and studied its insects for two years. Back in the Netherlands she published Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium in 1705: hand-coloured copper engravings showing each caterpillar and butterfly or moth with the plant it feeds on.
After her death Dorothea sold the plates to the Amsterdam publisher Joannes Oosterwijk, who issued a second edition in 1719 with new plates. This series follows that edition, with all 72 plates.
- Published
- 1719
- Sheet
- 14¼ × 20¼ in, the most common size
- Original in
- Teylers Museum, Haarlem
- In our collection
- 72 prints
All 72 prints
72 prints
Lantren Fly with Pomegranate Flower
$185
Large Horned Beetle with Potato
$185
Sweet Bean
$185
Orange
$185
Pearly-eyed Butterfly with Nut
$185
Red Ginger Plant with Bee
$185
Pepper Plant Capsicum
$185
Water Scorpion, Giant Water Beetle and Frogs
$185
Wooly-haired Megalopygio Caterpillar
$185
Pearly-eyed Butterfly and Flies
$185
Female Toad and Young with Watercress
$185
Caligo Butterfly Wasp and Acanthacae
$185
Sweet White Guava
$185
Papaya
$185
Cocoa
$185
Papaya
$185
Lemon
$185
Opossums with Young & Praying Mantis
$185
Fig
$185
Heather Butterfly & Metamorphic Study
$185
Caiman
$185
Lizard
$185
Frog metamorphic stages
$185
Stag Beetle, Palm Tree
$185
The complete set
Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium is also available as a complete set: every plate we hold, as a facsimile at the original size, with a title page, a contents page and a certificate, in a Solander box.
Limited to 50 sets. Price on request.