Nicolas Robert (1614-1684). Variae ac multiformes florum species expressae ad vivum et aeneis tabulis incisae. Rome: Aeditae a Io. Iacobo de Rubeis Romae, 1665.
The plates in this work are indicative of Robert's early style, and they demonstrate his lifelong interest in botany. Robert's 1665 work was clearly a reference point for the 1771 publication of Merian's Histoire générale des insectes de Surinam et de toute l'Europe (originally published in 1705), as demonstrated by a comparison of Robert's Viola lutea grandiflora with Merian's Violier de montagne jaune. The details are very similar, except that the Merian image includes a dragonfly and a spider's web.