Nicolaas Meerburgh, gardener, illustrator, and botanist, was born in Leiden and baptized on February 3, 1734. His professional training was probably directed by the famous Master Gardener, Adriaan Steckhoven (+1782), but little is known of his activities before he became Hortolanus  of the Botanical Garden in his native city. The garden was affiliated with the University of Leiden, and, in 1775, Meerburgh was appointed “comptroller” of the university. In the same year, the first part of his major work, Afbeeldingen van zeldzame gewassen (Portraits of Rare Plants), was published; it was followed by four additional volumes, and completed in 1780. The volumes contained fifty hand colored engravings of plants from the Leiden gardens. The illustrations were drawn and engraved by Meerburgh himself. His other publications were Plantae rariores vivis coloribus depictae (1789), a Latin version of the Afbeeldingen with fifty-five plates and four extra pages of text and Plantae selectarum icones pictae (1798).