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Marc Notes:
Reprint of the plates from Kunstformen der Natur, published in 1904 by Verlag der Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig and Vienna;with brief captions replacing the original text.
Jacket Description/Back:
Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (1834-1919) was renowned as one of the foremost early exponents of Darwinism. His work was credited with having caused the acceptance of Darwinism in Europe, and his popular studies―preaching the continuity of all life, organic and inorganic, from prehistoric time to the present―converted tens of thousands of readers all over the world. Today, although no one is greatly interested in Haeckel the biologist-philosopher, his work is increasingly prized for something he himself would probably have considered secondary. These are the remarkable plates with which his work was illustrated, particularly his famous
Kunstformen. The
Kunstformen contains 100 beautiful lithographic plates which show a multitude of unusual life forms: Radiolaria, Foraminifera, and other forms of microscopic life; jellyfishes, starfishes, calcareous sponges, star corals, barnacles, and other sea life; mosses, lichens, red algae, ferns, fungi, orchids, and other plants; and turtles, moths, spiders, bats, frogs, lizards, hummingbirds, and antelope. With many drawings on each plate, each carefully drawn from nature, the subtle details of nature's art forms are easily compared and appreciated.
In addition to being marvelous renderings, these plates have long been noted for the peculiar emotional appeal that they have for most viewers, a premonition of surrealism with exotic organic life forms stretching back to their roots in the inorganic, and individual details drawn with awareness of subtle evolutionary changes and millennia-long developments. Artists, illustrators, and others will find them still powerful as one of the landmarks of applied art.
Complete reprinting of all 100 plates from
Kunstformen der Natur (1904).
Table of Contents:
1 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
2 Various species of Foraminifera (a type of marine Protozoa)
3 Various species of Ciliata (a class of Protozoa)
4 Various species of diatoms (a type of unicellular plant)
5 Various species of calcareous sponges
6 Various species of Tubulariidae (animals in the same biological class as hydras)
7 Various species of Siphonophora (in the same class as hydras)
8 Various species of Semaeostomeae (the most familiar order of jellyfishes)
9 Various species of star corals
10 Various types of starfishes
11 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
12 Various species of Protozoa related to the Foraminifera
13 Various species of flagellates (a class of Protozoa)
14 "Various species of Dinoflagellata (an order of the class of flagellates, formerly considered to be unicellular plants)"
15 Various species of brown seaweed (algae)
16 Various species of Narcomedusae (in the same class as hydras)
17 Various species of Siphonophora (in the same class as hydras)
18 Various species of jellyfishes
19 "Various species of Pennatulacea (sea pens, a type of soft coral)"
20 Various species of sea-lilies (animals related to starfishes and sea-urchins)
21 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
22 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
23 Various species of moss animals (marine animals living in colonies)
24 Various species of Desmidiaceae (a type of unicellular algae)
25 Various species of Sertulariidae (a family of hydriod polyps)
26 Various species of Trachymedusae (related to hydras)
27 Various species of Cydippida (an order of comb jellies)
28 Various species of Rhizostomeae (an order of jellyfishes)
29 Various species of star corals
30 Various species of sea-urchins
31 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
32 Various species of rotifers (a class of animals related to roundworms)
33 Various species of moss animals (marine animals living in colonies)
34 Various species of Hydrodictyaceae (colonial algae)
35 Various species of glass sponges
36 Various types of leptomedusae (related to hydras)
37 A species of Siphonophora (in the same class as hydras)
38 Various species of Periphylla (a genus of jellyfishes)
39 Various species of horny corals
40 Various species of starfishes
41 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
42 Various species of trunkfishes
43 Various species of true sea slugs (Nudibranchia)
44 Shells of various ammonites (extinct cephalopods)
45 Various species of Campanulariidae (a family of hydroid polyps)
46 Various types of anthomedusae (hydroids)
47 Horseshoe crabs (center) and various species of their extinct ancestors (trilobites)
48 Various species of stalked jellyfishes
49 Various species of sea anemones (animals related to corals)
50 Various species of sea-cucumbers (related to sea-urchins and starfishes)
51 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
52 Various species of Polyodiaceae (a family of ferns)
53 Various species of marine snails of the subclass Prosobranchia
54 Various species of octopuses
55 Various species of bivalves of the subclass Lamellibranchia
56 Various species of crustaceans of the subclass Copepoda
57 Various species of Cirripedia (barnacles and allies). The crab in the center is harboring a parasitic species of this subclass
58 Various species of plume moths and of moths of the family Tinaeidae
59 A species of Siphonophora (in the same class as hydras)
60 Various species of sea-urchins
61 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
62 A Malaysian pitcher plant of the genus Nepenthes
63 Various species of fungi of the class Basidiomycetes
64 Various species of algae of the order of Siphonales
65 Various species of red algae (Rhodophyceae)
66 Various species of spiders and ticks
67 Various species of bats
68 "Various species of frogs, including tree frogs"
69 Various species of star corals
70 Various species of Gorgon-headed starfishes
71 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
72 Various species of mosses
73 Various species of fungi of the class Ascomycetes
74 Various species of orchids
75 Various species of flukes and tapeworms
76 Various species of crustaceans
77 Various species of Siphonophora (in the same class as hydras)
78 Various species of sea wasps (an order of jellyfishes)
79 "Various species of tropical lizards, including chameleon, gecko and collard lizard"
80 "Various species of Blastoidea, extinct relative of starfishes"
81 Various species of Foraminifera (a type of marine Protozoa)
82 Various species of liverworts (related to mosses)
83 Various species of lichens
84 Various species of diatoms (a type of unicellular plant)
85 Various species of sea-squirts (a class of marine chordate animals)
86 Various species of crabs and crayfishes
87 "Two types of seahorse, a dragonfish and a frogfish, with a variety of fish scales"
88 Various species of Rhizostomeae (an order of jellyfishes)
89 Various species of turtles and tortoises
90 "Various species of Cystoidea, extinct allies of the starfishes"
91 Various species of Radiolaria (a type of marine Protozoa)
92 Tree ferns
93 "Various species of slime molds, considered by some to be plants (class Myxomycetes), by others to be animals (Mycetozoa)"
94 The fruit of various species of conifers
95 "Various species of extinct allies of the starfishes, and larvae of several extant related species"
96 Various species of Polychaeta (a class of marine segmented worms)
97 Various species of lamp-shells (phylum Brachiopoda)
98 Various species of Semaeostomeae (the most familiar order of jellyfishes)
99 Various species of hummingbirds
100 Various species of antelopes
Publisher Marketing:
Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (1834-1919) was renowned as one of the foremost early exponents of Darwinism. His work was credited with having caused the acceptance of Darwinism in Europe, and his popular studies ― preaching the continuity of all life, organic and inorganic, from prehistoric time to the present ― converted tens of thousands of readers all over the world. Today, although no one is greatly interested in Haeckel the biologist-philosopher, his work is increasingly prized for something he himself would probably have considered secondary. These are the remarkable plates with which his work was illustrated, particularly his famous
Kunstformen. The
Kunstformen contains 100 beautiful lithographic plates which show a multitude of unusual life forms: Radiolaria, Foraminifera, and other forms of microscopic life; jellyfishes, starfishes, calcareous sponges, star corals, barnacles, and other sea life; mosses, lichens, red algae, ferns, fungi, orchids, and other plants; and turtles, moths, spiders, bats, frogs, lizards, hummingbirds, and antelope. With many drawings on each plate, each carefully drawn from nature, the subtle details of nature's art forms are easily compared and appreciated.
In addition to being marvelous renderings, these plates have long been noted for the peculiar emotional appeal that they have for most viewers, a premonition of surrealism with exotic organic life forms stretching back to their roots in the inorganic, and individual details drawn with awareness of subtle evolutionary changes and millennia-long developments. Artists, illustrators, and others will find them still powerful as one of the landmarks of applied art.
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