Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, Plate No. 39; Unidentified tree with moth, caterpillar and pupa

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. 1/4 inch vertical edge tear, well outside of image area, minor handling wear, and several light spots of minor discoloration, three occurring in the area of the lower portion of the branch. Colors remain extremely vibrant. From the edition engraved by Pieter Sluyter, printed between 1719 and 1730. Sybilla's notes regarding Plate No. 39: "This plant grew in my garden in Suriname, without anyone being able to tell me its name or properties. It grows more than an ell tall and bears small yellow flowers. On this plant I found large caterpillars eating its leaves. They are green and adorned with white, red and black patches. Around the end of May they spun themselves in a thin cocoon, like the one I placed on the stem. They turned into brown, liver-coloured pupae, from which on 20 June only this one moth or owlet emerged. All others had died. The moth is grey and marked wit a black and white pattern." About 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, pp 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 Mer.…