Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, Plate No. 58; Ice Cream Bean Plant, Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly and Caterpillar with Moth

The Netherlands, 1705. Engraving with hand coloring in watercolor on cream laid Honig paper with a large heraldic watermark with a Strasbourg Lily and the initials WR. 12 7/8 x 9 5/8 inches (327 x 245 mm), sheet 20 5/8 x 14 inches (522 x 354), full margins. Minor handling wear, and scattered light spots of minor discoloration throughout. Colors remain extremely vibrant. From the edition engraved by Pieter Sluyter, printed between 1719 and 1730. Translation of the original text regarding Plate No. 58: "I here show a branch from a large tree that grows in the forest in America. Its seed cases contain blackish beans, from which the trees derive the name Zoete Boonen-Boom [sweet-bean tree]. Around these beans lies a white pulp, which is very sweet and lovely. In this pulp I found white maggots, as can be seen on the open bean. These became brown pupae. On 2 April, that is, ten days later, such green flies emerged as can be seen next to the maggot. I fed the green caterpillar hanging below with the leaves of this Boonen-Boom [bean tree] as well as with the leaves of Plate 32. On 16 June 1700 it changed into a green pupa which, after ten days, turned into a butterfly like the one sitting on the bean.
On this tree I also found other caterpillars in large numbers, like the one crawling on the stem at the top. It had yellow hairs and black spines. It shed its hair, stuck it to the seed case, and made an oval, grey cocoon out of it, as can be seen on the green leaf. In this cocoon it changed into a pupa. Three days later there emerged, out of all those that had cocooned themselves, such flies whose wings were spotted with brown and their bodies with red, green, silver and gold."

Notes on the watermark:

"Watermarks representing the arms of Strasbourg, a bend on a •shield surmounted by a large fleur-de-lys, are characteristic of 'Royal Paper'; paper of the largest standard size and always of high quality. In various forms, the 'Strasbourg Lily' occurs in Angoumois, Dutch and English papers in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The `WR' monogram at the bottom of the mark probably originated as the personal sign of Wendelin Riehel, a printer who rented a paper mill in Strasbourg during the sixteenth century; it was later widely used as a neat but meaningless termination to the pendant centre-line of many heraldic watermarks." [Viola a da Gamba Society, Appendix I: Watermarks and Paper Types, 268-272]

The design of the Strasbourg Lily was used by the Honig papermakers between 1741 and 1822. The lettering "C & I HONIG" occurs between 1730 and 1869. It is known that the brothers Cornelis Jacobszoon and Jan Jacobszoon Honig worked together under the name "C & I Honig" but started new companies, each one for himself, in 1738. Cornelis (1683-1755) continued under the name "C & I Honig," now together with his son Jacob Cornelisz Honig (1707-1770). [Klepikov, S. A., Some information over the "Honig" watermarks, IPH Information. Bulletin of the International Association of Paper Historians (IPH), N.S., vol. 6, no. 1 (January 1972), 10-13.]


Maria Sibylla Merian was one of the most highly respected entomologists of the 17th century, and remains today one of the field's most significant figures. A German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator, she reared herself on the study of caterpillars, and made tremendous contributions to the knowledge of the life cycles of numerous species. Until her detailed and careful study of the process of metamorphosis it was commonly believed that insects were "born of mud," through spontaneous generation. Trained as a miniature painter by her stepfather, she published her first book of illustrations in 1675, at the age of 28. In 1679, Merian published the first volume of the two-volume series on caterpillars, The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers; the second volume followed in 1683. Each volume contained 50 plates that she engraved and etched.

In 1699, Merian traveled to Dutch Guiana with her daughter to study and record the tropical insects native to South America. The result was her 1705 magnum opus, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. Merian's Metamorphosis has been credited with heavily influencing the way naturalists presented their illustrations to include a life form in various stages of development.

Years after her death, Merian has been honored by having a number of taxa and three genera named after her. According to Jennifer Pomeroy's 2018 biography, three butterflies have been named after Merian; in 1905 a form of a split-banded owlet butterfly Opsiphanes cassina merianae; in 1967 a subspecies of the common postman butterfly Heliconius melpomene meriana; and in 2018 a rare butterfly Catasticta sibyllae from Panamá. In addition, the Cuban sphinx moth has been named Erinnyis merianae, a Tessaratomidae bug has been named Plisthenes merianae, a genus of mantises has been named Sibylla, the orchid bee Eulaema meriana, and the bird-eating spider Avicularia merianae was named in her honor, referencing her research on spiders. The spider Metellina merianae was named after her in 2017. An Argentine tegu lizard has been named Salvator merianae. A toad was named Rhinella merianae. A snail was named Coquandiella meriana. The Madagascan population of the African stonechat bird was given the name Saxicola torquatus sibilla. A genus of flowering plants was named Meriania, and an iris-like plant was given the name Watsonia meriana. [Sarah B. Pomeroy; Jeyaraney Kathirithamby (2018). Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer. Getty Publications.].