The imm hat&bamst: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 101. OCTOBER 15th, 1881. Vol. 2. 



MARIA SIBILLA MERIAN. 



WE have, on one or two occasions, 

 been asked to give brief bio- 

 graphical notices of persons who have 

 taken an interest in the pursuit and 

 study of natural history, so we begin by 

 a short memorandum of the above- 

 named lady. We do not select her 

 because we can find no worthier person- 

 age in our own country. We might 

 even in our own town find men still 

 living who have devoted a life most 

 assiduously to the love of nature, and 

 whose career is well worth chronicling 

 in the pages of history ; but we select 

 Madame Merian because we believe she 

 was one of the first ladies to entertain 

 a practical taste for the objects of nature, 

 and one of our strongest desires is to 

 encourage a like taste among the present 

 young members of her sex. 



She was born at Frankford in the 

 year 1647. Her ancestors had for some 

 generations been distinguished in works 

 of art. Her father excelled in aquafortis 

 engraving, and produced many volumes 

 illustrated with beautiful plates. His 

 daughter inherited the same tastes, and 

 very soon excelled in drawing and 

 painting. She was indebted to her elder 

 brother, and after her father's death to 



a stepfather, for tuition, the latter 

 placing her under a master where she 

 seems to have excelled in miniature 

 portrait painting. She also devoted 

 much of her time to painting flowers 

 and insects, and soon began to show a 

 decided preference for this kind of work, 

 collecting and preserving specimens for 

 that purpose. 



At eighteen she was married to a 

 John Andrew Graf, of Nuremburg. His 

 conduct appears, however, to have been 

 of a questionable character, and they 

 separated soon after, she preserving her 

 maiden name. Besides painting with 

 the pencil she painted with the needle, 

 executing pieces of embroidery which 

 were greatly admired. Her zeal in 

 painting insects was her highest joy, 

 and she devoted herself to it with a 

 willing heart and an able hand. She 

 again rejoined her husband, and in 1684 

 returned to Frankford. They did not 

 stay together long, for she and her two 

 daughters left him in order to join a 

 religious sect. The love of nature seems, 

 however, to have been greater than her 

 devotion to the sect, for she lost no 

 opportunity of visiting any collections 

 of note within easy reach. She visited 

 the Amsterdam museums, and was there 



