A Butterfly Journey: Maria Sibylla Merian Artist and Scientist

by Boris Friedewald, Stephan von Pohl (Translator From German)

The amazing story of the life and work of the renowned botanical artist Maria Sibylla Merian is told alongside her beautiful illustrations of butterflies in this charming and elegant book. A woman ahead of her time, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was
an intrepid explorer, naturalist, scholar, as well as a magnificent
artist. This lovely, impeccably designed book tells Merian's
incredible life story alongside colorful reproductions of her
engravings and watercolors of the butterflies she encountered
during her lifetime in Germany and the Netherlands, and her
seminal trip to the Dutch colony of Surinam. The book recounts
Merian's monumental expedition, her work as an advocate for
the slave laborers of Surinam, and her important studies of the
anatomy and life cycle of the butterfly. Author Boris Friedewald
employs Merian's favorite insect as a metaphor for the artist's
own pioneering evolution from budding entomologist to
educator, activist, and artist. A visual treasure as well as a
satisfying read, this exquisite volume is the perfect gift for
anyone interested in Merian's amazing life and groundbreaking
body of work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Science, Art, History, Nature, Art History

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Joann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book, some things are clearly lost in the translation. It has wonderful pictures that allow you to see her work as the story progressed. No footnotes, although a sourced list (mostly in German) is provided. This book included facts and details that I had not seen in other books about her. Difficult to judge the accuracy of the new facts without sources.
Altogether I enjoyed reading this and definitely appreciated the color illustrations. Marie Sibylla Merian is a fascinating woman.

[Elisa Goudriaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and beautifully designed!

[Susanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maria Sibylla Merian war gleich in mehrfacher Hinsicht eine außergewöhnliche Frau. Schon als kleines Mädchen interessierte sie sich für alle Arten von Insekten, nicht nur für die hübschen Schmetterlinge, nein, bei ihr durften es auch Raupen, Käfer und Fliegen sein, die sie in Schachteln mit nach Hause nahm und beobachtete. Sie hatte das Glück, in einer Familie von Malern und Kupferstechern (Tochter des berühmten Matthäus Merian d. Ä.) aufzuwachsen, die ihre Talente förderte. Und selbst als Hausfrau und Mutter hat sie ihre Leidenschaft der Erkundung und naturgetreuen Darstellung von Tieren und Pflanzen nicht aufgegeben, sondern verwirklichte sie weiter, indem sie opulente Bildbände veröffentlichte, zuletzt mit den Ergebnissen ihrer zweijährigen Reise nach Surinam. Ich war schwer beeindruckt von dem Forscherdrang, aber auch dem Selbstbewusstsein und Mut Maria Sibylla Merians.
Boris Friedewald hat auf weniger als 150 Seiten dieses spannende Leben skizziert und es mit Darstellungen aus Merians Werk so illustriert, dass man einen Eindruck von ihrer Lebensleistung gewinnen kann. Er schreibt gut, einfühlsam, nur an einigen Stellen hätte ich mir genauere Erklärungen gewünscht und ich war mir nicht immer ganz sicher, ob Fragen offen bleiben geblieben sind, weil der Platz oder weil die Quellen zu ihrer Beantwortung fehlten. Wirklich enttäuscht hat mich allerdings das Format der Reise zu den Schmetterlingen. Es handelt sich nämlich nicht um einen Bildband (in DINA4-Größe), sondern um ein Geschenkbändchen, zwar wunderhübsch, aber in Taschenbuchgröße, bei dem manche Illustrationen und Untertitel für mich zu Suchbildern wurden.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born in 1647 into an artistic household, Maria Sibylla Merian was drawn from a young age to the mysterious world of insects, particularly caterpillars and butterflies. Although she was obliged to fulfill a traditional feminine role as a wife and mother, she later in life realized her dream of studying the insects that so filled her with curiosity by traveling to Suriname for several years to study and paint the local flora and fauna.

Listening to a podcast about Maria several years ago is what inspired me to read more about her. This slim book is a quick read and provides a detailed narrative of her life and contributions to both the art world and the furthering of entomology and natural history. Her illustrations are gorgeous and immaculately detailed. It's a shame she isn't a household name.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maria Sibylla Merian was mostly BAMF, except for the part where she utilized slave labor on her adventures. But it's possible she did have some awareness about its horrors. I would recommend people look her up, but not necessarily seek out this book. The book is filled with many beautiful examples of her color plates, but the text is not particularly sparkling.

[Madeline Schechter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria Sibylla Merian’s life story is beautiful; full of adventure, observation and love of small creatures! I really enjoyed learning about such an intelligent, talented women who pathed the way for many female artist and scientists. I highly recommend reading this book or at least flipping through to see the magical illustrations(:

[Stacy Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author sets his telling of the extraordinary life of a 17th century woman in the context of her exquisite paintings in full color. A beautiful and joyful book, soothing to the soul; and made all the sweeter because it was a gift from a new friend.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so glad to have learned about this pioneering woman. It’s a brief story, and the real star is her artwork, which is strikingly beautiful and precise. I love that the author included so many color plates.

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring story about an incredible artist and scientist! And with beautiful illustrations

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully published biography, a gem in itself. Accompanying the biography of Maria Sibylla Merian, a 17th century artist fascinated with caterpillars, moths, and butterflies, are some of her illustrations and those of her family (several artists in her family), all keyed to mentions or references in the book. She is another example of an early woman scientist who has been neglected because of her gender. While she made no startling discoveries about butterfly biology, she did illustrate beautifully known and new butterflies and moths that she discovered in her environs, that were sent to her by other scientists knowing her interest, and that she discovered when she boldly travelled with her daughter (an artist in her own right) to South America to discover new examples and illustrate them. It is a short book because not much is known of her (because she was a woman), but Friedewalde situates her within her culture and time and brings her to life.

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Observant scientist
Of metamorphosis
And brilliant painter
Of caterpillars.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful overview of the life, scientific studies and artwork of one of the first woman natural scientists, Maria Sibylla Merian, whose studies of the life of butterflies in the late 17th century which she recorded in her artwork and accompanying narration provided some of the first accurate records of the life cycles of these species. The book includes copies of Ms. Merian's beautiful artwork. Its only drawback are some typographical errors that include some German words instead of their English counterparts.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great brief read about Maria Sibylla Merian, the OG butterfly loving babe we needed in our life. I found her story very inspiring as she forged a name for herself as an artist, scientist, and adventurer in a time when women had narrowly defined roles in society. This particular edition is also lovely with it's full color pictures drawn by Merian herself and canvas spine.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations were beautiful and reproduced well (though I wish they were bigger). Some of the sentences read awkwardly since it was originally written in German, Merian's own language, and I'm sure a small bit was lost in translation. Overall it's still worth the read to learn about this fascinating woman.

[Eva Silverfine]

A strange little biography only in that the audience is not clear. However, I was glad to learn about this extraordinary woman who, far ahead of her times, studied and illustrated insects, particularly Lepidoptera, and meticulously described the process of metamorphosis.

[Darrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I changed my rating on this after several days of thought. My quibbles with the translation should not affect my rating in my opinion, as I think the author did quite a good job of describing the life of Maria Sibylla Merian even if the grammar and wording were a bit off sometimes.

She is like many women of that time..unable to participate in what were considered "men's" fields of study but deeply interested in understanding nature and the world around her and obviously artistically gifted.

[Barbara]

Book includes beautiful plate illustrations and a magnificent tale of the artist's life and travels.