Jun 19, 2003 - Sale 1974

Sale 1974 - Lot 381

Price Realized: $ 18,400
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000
CLASSIC ON INSECTS AND PLANTS (INSECTS.) Merian, Maria Sibylla. Erucarum Ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis. Engraved frontispiece by Schynvoet, engraved headpiece on dedication leaf, engraved portrait of Merian by Houbraken, 3 engraved sectional titles, 150 beautiful engraved plates of insects on plants. 4to, contemporary calf gilt; very minor dampstaining in the top margins of the first section near the gutter (never extending to the platemark). Amsterdam: Joannem Oosterwyk, [1718]
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Additional Details



This copy is absolutely complete and as such is the only complete copy to come to market in recent years besides the dedication copy which sold for $221,000 several years ago. Every other copy has lacked either the portrait of Merian, the sectional titles, or some of the plates. The work is classic Merian, showing insects in the various stages of their metamorphosis to adulthood while posed on botanical figures. This copy with especially rich and deep engraving. Nissen, Botany 1342; Landwehr 135; Dunthorne 205 and Hunt 483 citing later French editions.