Botanicals: Butterflies and Insects

In this case, please judge Botanicals: Butterflies and Insects by its cover. As you turn each full color page, you will find yourself enchanted by the seemingly fantastical but scientifically accurate flowers, butterflies, and yes insects, that are so artfully portrayed. Of special note are the works of three extraordinary botanical artists: seventeenth-century German entomologist and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian; English physician and medical botany lecturer/writer Robert John Thornton; and early 20th-century Parisian designer E. A. Seguy.  Hardcover; 300 pages, 300 color illustrations. 11.75" x 9.25".

Museum Provenance

Each reproduction is culled from the rare books library of our Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Every Smithsonian purchase will arrive with a museum provenance card explaining how it is adapted from or inspired by an object or objects in our collection.