Merian, Matthäus, The Elder

Matthäus Merian, (born 1593, Basel, Switz.—died 1650, Schwalbach, Fr. [now in Germany]), engraver, etcher, and book dealer, the leading German illustrator of the 17th century.

In 1609 Merian began studying with Dietrich Meyer, a painter and engraver of Zürich, and in 1613 he moved to Nancy. After studying in Paris, Stuttgart (1616), and the Low Countries, he went to Frankfurt, where in 1618 he married the eldest daughter of J.T. de Bry, publisher and engraver. He worked with his father-in-law at Oppenheim, then returned to Basel, but went back to Frankfurt after de Bry’s death (1623) to take over his business.

Merian completed in 1624 the great record of discovery and travel Collectiones Peregrinationum in Indiam (“Collections of Travels in India”), begun by the de Brys in 1590. De Bry’s business remained in Merian’s family until 1726, when a fire destroyed it. From 1627 to 1629 the Bohemian etcher Wenzel Hollar was in Merian’s studio in Frankfurt. Between 1625 and 1630 Merian published illustrations to the Bible. In 1635 he began the series Theatrum Europaeum, and between 1642 and 1688 he published Martin Zeiller’s Topographia Germaniae, with more than 2,000 plates etched and engraved by himself and his sons Matthäus and Caspar. Among his last works was “Dance of Death” (1649).

His daughter, Anna Maria Sibylla(1647–1717), was noted for her accurate, detailed, and delicate drawings of subjects in the field of natural history.