3.2.2. Comparison with Other Editions

Prints in Northwestern University were compared to other editions of Merian's *Metamorphosis*: an edition published in Amsterdam by Merian in 1705 in the University of Chicago Special Collections (call no.: ff QL466.M57 1705), a 1726 edition published in Amsterdam by P. Gosse in Northwestern Medical School's Galter Health Sciences Library (call no.: XO 595.7 M54d 1726) and a 1771 edition translated into French published in Paris by LC Desnos (call no.: XO 595.7 M54h3 1771), also in Galter Health Sciences Library. All three editions are uncolored.

After visual inspection of plates from different editions it was observed that Northwestern Special Collections' prints have a Roman numeral plate number in the upper right of each print and a French name for the plant species at the bottom of each print. These two features are unique to the 1771 edition, *Histoire Generalé des Insectes de Surinam...*, which is the last known edition of Merian's work, published in Paris in 1771 by L.C. Desnos (Figure 11) [10]. The presence of printed features that are only present in the 1771 edition confirms that the NU Special Collections prints may be attributed to a 1771 edition.

**Figure 11.** Details from plate 54 from Galter Library's 1726 edition (**left**), NU Special Collections (**center**) and Galter Library's 1771 edition (**right**). A Roman numeral plate number in the upper right and a label in French were added to the plates between 1726 and 1771.
