Erucarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis, In qua Origo, pabulum, transformatio, nec non tempus, locus, &c proprietates crucarum, vermium, papilionum, phalaenarum, muscarum, aliorumque hujusmodi exsanguium animalculorum exhibentur, in Favorem, atque insectorum, herbarum, florum, & plantarum Amatorum, tum etiam pictorum, limbolarium, aliorumque commodum exacte inquista, ad vivum delineata, typis excusa, compendiosemque descripta.

Amsterdam, Joannes Oosterwyk, per Dictam Mariam Sibillam Merian unquam Composita,(1718). 3 parts, 64 pp. With coloured portrait by Houbraken, engraved title to section I and 150 coloured copper-plate engravings (numbered from 1-50, I-L, 1-50) by Maria Sibylla Merian. 4to, (245 x 195 mm.) Contemporary polished calf gilt, elaborate gilt decoration, corner fleurons and central medallion, a.e.g.

A RARE CONTEMPORARY COLOURED COPY OF THE FIRST LATIN EDITIONof all 3 parts, bound as often without the frontispiece by Schnyvoet and the two title pages to parts II and III .

This is one of a very few special copies coloured by Maria Sibylla Merian before publication or more likely her daughter Dorothea.

As Landwehr states, ‘the work was published uncoloured, as appears from the introduction to Part II, but upon request from the buyer Madam Merian (or her daughter Dorothea) would colour the copy’.The portrait and the title page in the present copy are printed specially for Merian in contra-preuve.

With its wonderful, coloured engravings of various butterflies, caterpillars and other insects with their flowers and plants, this is one of the most beautiful books concerning entomology ever published. “From a purely artistic point of view, her works contain by far the best depictions of butterflies that had appeared up to that time. As a book creator, she has been able to give her works a form that ranks them among the most beautiful and impressive publications of all time, so that they are still the delight of all book lovers and all lovers of nature … ” (Pfeiffer).

Maria Sibylla Merian was the daughter of the printmaker Matthias Merian, and the stepdaughter of the still-life painter Jacob Marrel. She was a talented artist, who was trained in flower painting by Marrel. From an early age, she was fascinated by insects and their life cycles, and undertook research into the phenomenon of metamorphosis, which was then only partially understood. She published her findings in a series of books of which the Erucarum is one, illustrated with beautifully composed plates in which each insect life cycle was illustrated on the appropriate food plant.

Erucarum ortus (Latin for “The Birth of Caterpillars”) was the post-mortem title given to a collection of Maria Sibylla Merian’s engravings of European insects and their metamorphosis, published in 1718 by her daughter, Dorothea. This work, combining her previous publications, illustrated the complete life cycle of butterflies and moths, from caterpillar to chrysalis to adult, showing them with their food plants. Merian’s unique approach of depicting the insects in their ecological context, including their food sources, was a significant contribution to the emerging field of entomology.

It was a groundbreaking work that helped lay the foundation for modern entomology by demonstrating insect metamorphosis in a scientific and ecological context. Merian was one of the first to understand and illustrate that insects develop from eggs, not spontaneous generation

In 1699, having encountered exotic insects in the cabinets of natural history collectors in Amsterdam, Merian and her younger daughter Dorothea set sail for Surinam, in South America, which was then a Dutch colony. There, they studied the life cycles of Surinamese insects until their return to Europe in 1701. Merian published her Surinamese research as the Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam) in 1705. The book was very well-received, and by her death Merian was well-regarded throughout Europe as one of the finest artists of entomology and botany.

Nissen, BBI 1342. Landwehr, Dutch Books with Coloured Plates, 135. Pfeiffer A 7. Wettengl cat. no. 155