Vorstellung mancherley fremder und seltener Thiere

The Nuremberg miniature painter Johann Daniel Meyer (1713–1757) published his three-volume work Angenehmer und nützlicher Zeit=Vertreib mit Betrachtung curioser Vorstellungen allerhand kriechender, fliegender und schwimmender Thiere [...] als auch [...] ihrer Scelete oder Bein=Cörper (Pleasant and useful pastime with observations of curious representations of all kinds of crawling, flying and swimming animals [...] as well as [...] their skeletons or leg structures), which is illustrated with 240 coloured copperplate engravings and is also available in the library of the Francke Foundations. The book presented here is particularly suitable for introducing today's reader to the way of thinking in the 18th century and not only providing them with a pleasant pastime. 

Created at the dawn of the Enlightenment, this illustrated book naturally establishes the connection between Baroque opulence and early modern scientific rigour, and was one of the most important osteological animal books of its time. Meyer naturally claimed to depict animals »according to nature«, following in the footsteps of the illustrated animal books of the 17th and 18th centuries. However, Meyer often lacked specimens, especially of animals from distant regions, so that, as was common practice at the time, he had to rely on the travel reports of explorers when he could not draw on visual material in natural history collections. As a result, not all of his depictions were faithful representations of nature, as Bernhard Christian Otto (1745–1835), professor of natural history in Greifswald, criticised in 1788, despite his praise for the quality of Meyer's illustrations. 

The illustrated book presented here offers a partial facsimile of Meyer's work. With the help of 32 illustrations, readers can trace this exciting period for themselves and thus develop a sense of the state of knowledge and craftsmanship of that time.

This book is published in German.