These three small volumes represent a major achievement in seventeenth-century science. The product of many years of close observation, Joannes Goedaert’s Metamorphosis Naturalis was the first important study of the morphological transformation undergone by insects as they grow from larvae into fully grown beetles, flies, moths, and butterflies. Meticulously observed and carefully depicted, the bugs and beetles in Goedart’s volumes are a virtual catalogue of the insect life of the seventeenth-century Netherlands. A decades-long labor of love, Goedaert’s project was ultimately of Europe-wide significance, earning a broad audience — and even an English translation — among the nascent scientific community of the era. But the project was also one infused with religious significance for Goedaert, who saw the work as a form of careful observation of the mysteries of Creation. Goedaert’s devotion to the project was complete: he did the research, wrote the text, drew and etched the illustrations, and ultimately self-published the book. He even, as with this example, arranged hand coloring of special copies.

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