MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN; Der Lebensweg einer grossen Kunstlerin und Forscherin

(Gutersloh): (Bertelsmann). Small 8vo, pp. 221. In German. Green cloth. A nice copy in little chipped dj. Maria Sibylla Merian was born on April 2, 1647, in Frankfurt/Main, the daughter of the famous engraver Matthaus Merian. She died in Amsterdam on January 13, 1717. She was taught drawing and painting by her stepfather, the Dutch flower painter, Jacob Marell. Although her Neues Blumenbuch (Nurnberg 1680) is a major achievement and shows her command of the subject, her main interests were insects, especially beetles and butterflies. After her separation from her husband, the architectural painter Johann Andreas Graff, she settled in Frisia, where she was captivated by a collection of butterflies from tropical South America. She became obsessed with a desire to study these insects in their own environment, and finally in 1699 a stipend given by the Dutch government provided her with the means to visit Surinam. Only her courage and her independent nature made the trip possible, at a time when women--and most men--didn't travel. Her strenuous work in an unhealthy climate caused a dangerous illness, and she left Surinam prematurely in 1701. The result of the trip was her unrivaled masterpiece, Metamorphosis insektorum Surinamensium, Amsterdam, 1705, with 72 colored plates in folio. Quednau's biographical novel is intended for young women, and succeeds earlier novels by Pohlmann (1935) and Treue (1942).