In 1701, Merianin left Suriname early for health reasons and returned to Amsterdam with a baggage of new things’: plants, animals – sometimes alive, other times preserved in pots and boxes -, drawings, and notes on the basis of which she started to work on her book Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname. In order to recover her travel expenses, she sought subscriptions from her circle of acquaintances among  naturalist enthusiasts and scholars. Meriainin personally engraved only three plates;for the others, she  gave her preparatory drawings to Joseph Mulder, Pieter Sluyter, and Daniel Stopendaal among the best engravers in Amsterdam), each of whom signed their own plates. In addition to the first print, Merianin often used counter proofing , which allowed for a second copy in reverse without inking the copper plate again, thus optimising the production time and creating more delicate illustrations that were perfect for watercolouring and that could also be sold as loose sheets.

On display are the three plates engraved by Merianin herself, a 17th-century intaglio printing workshop, and an example of a print and counterproof.