Turning the Book Wheel
Earth Day and Vladimir Nabokov’s birthday? What could be more appropriate than images of the lovely Plebejus (Plebulina) Nabokov, 1944 also known as Loew’s blue.
The taxonomy on this one seems a little confusing for a non-taxonomist, so if I’ve erred, just enjoy the pretty butterflies, ok?
Image by Bill Bouton courtesy of eol.org
Just in time for Women’s History Month, we have scanned our copy of Maria Sybilla Merian’s Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium…
in it’s entirety!
Merian (1647 – 1717) was a German naturalist, painter, and scientific illustrator most famous for her detailed observations and documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly.
Illustration of insects and flowers, from Maria Sibylla Merian’s Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (1730) ( “Caterpillars, Their Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment from Flowers” ) this image is from a later translated edition of Merian’s original, which was published in 1679.
The Getty has an excellent online exhibition of some of her other work.
