Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717)

January 13, 2017, marked the 300th anniversary of the death of the naturalist and artist Maria Sybilla Merian. To honor this extraordinary woman, regarded as a co-founder of entomology, the University Library of Erlangen-Nürnberg (UB) presented copies of her first scientific work, “Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung” (The Wonderful Metamorphosis of Caterpillars and Their Strange Floral Nutrition), which she colored herself, from 1679 and 1683, as well as uncolored editions. The UB also presented four letters from Merian to the Nuremberg physician and botanist Johann Georg Volckamer. Her best-known work “Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium”, showcasing her skills as a researcher and illustrator, is the result of her research trip to Suriname in South America.

The exhibition was complemented by works from 16th-century zoologists Ulisse Aldrovandi and Thomas Moffett, as well as 18th-century zoologist August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, which place Maria Sibylla Merian within the history of entomology.