Amsterdam, Gerard Valk or J. Oosterwyk [1719]. Folio (51.2 x 36.0 cm). Mounted on cardboard in cardboard passepartout (57 x 49 cm).

A stunning plate after a wonderful drawing by the great early 18th-century naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Engraved by Pieter Sluyter. The plate depicts the Surinam frog, Pipa pipa (L.), two gastropod shells, one being Melongena melongena (L.), the Caribbean crown conch, the other is a member of the family Turbinidae, or turban shells, as well as a kind of edible watercress. "Merian's observations of amphibian life cycles helped to dispel the commonly held belief that frogs sprang directly from mud in 'spontaneous generation'. She was the first to document the life stages of the Surinamese toad ( Pipa pipa) which carries its eggs on its back" (NHM site). This plate is probably from the second, 1719 edition. It is not the much later, 1771 Buc'Hoz edition, which was reengraved by Cresson. A watermark, Y V, is present. It is neither in Briquet nor in Churchill. Edges uneven, with some paper loss, one tiny worm hole, two light, horizontal creases. A rather vague damp-stain in the lower left. Otherwise still a good copy, the imprint and colouring strong and within the passepartout quite attractive. Nissen BBI, 1341.