The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, one of the leading museums of the world, just acquired a botanic book about Surinam for its collection. The author, Maria Sibylla Merian, was a 52-year-old divorcee who embarked on a self-funded voyage to Suriname in 1699, driven by relentless curiosity about the lives of insects. The World’s Sarah Birnbaum reports.
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