Neues Blumenbuch /The New Book of Flowers

A facsimile edition in two volumes of floral engravings, remarkable for its scientific accuracy, brilliant colours and delicate beauty by Maria Sibylla Merian. It reproduces the 1680 Nuremberg edition of the artist's "Neues Blumenbuch" now found in the State Library of Saxony, Dresden. More than three centuries after it was published, this collection is remarkable for its scientific accuracy, brilliant colours and delicate beauty. Merian abandoned traditional modes of illustration known in the 16th and 17th-century botanical treatises for more comprehensive balanced compositions. Only six copies of Merian's original engravings exist, and only one was hand-colored by the artist herself. Combining botanical accuracy with artistic quality she moved away from the method favoring single illustrations and instead fused tulips, peonies and lilies into a cacophony of color and detail. Merian recorded the beauty of these flowers meticulously, often emphasising their relationship to their natural surroundings by including butterflies, caterpillars, or insects in the work.
Volume 1 comprises a 80-page facsimile with 36 color plates, including the original title sheet and preface by the artist. Volume II has a commentary in English and German with a contribution by Thomas Buerger and a biography of the artist.