Abstract Detail

Historical Section

Madriñán, Santiago [1].

Nicolaus Joseph Jacquin: journey to the West Indies (1755–1759).

Biographic research of Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin has concentrated mostly with aspects of Jacquin’s life in Vienna. Little attention has been given to his American voyage, with works dealing only partially with this aspect of Jacquin’s life. Thus, no detailed data of his itinerary, dates, contacts, collaborators, etc., as well as of his botanical explorations have been published up to now.
Much information on Jacquin’s Caribbean expedition and the botanical works resulting from his studies of America plants can be extracted from various primary sources available. Amongst these are Jacquin’s own publications (1760, 1763, 1780, and 1797), which if studied in a systematic way can bear data on the itinerary of the voyage, and of his botanical researches. Furthermore, an unpublished biographical sketch of Jacquin’s life written by his son Joseph Franz Jacquin (most probably dictated by Jacquin himself from his death bed) is available at the manuscript collection of the Austrian National Library in Vienna and has recently been fully transcribed and translated to Spanish and English. Additionally, a wealth of information on the post-expedition work by Jacquin on his American plants can be extracted from his ample correspondence with Linnaeus. The letters from Linnaeus to Jacquin now reside in the Manuscript Collection of the Uppsala University Library, and have long since been transcribed in their totality by Schreiber. On the other hand, the letters from Jacquin to Linnaeus, which consist of 184 folios, are held at the Linnaean Society in London. Partial transcriptions and some summaries of this correspondence are now available at the Linnaean Correspondence Project. With these two sets of correspondence, it is possible to trace with great detail the process of identification of specimens that Jacquin followed leading to the publication of the books relating to his American Plants, as well as to gain insight on other aspects of Jacquin’s professional work, including his systematic method.

Broader Impacts:

Related Links:
Laboratorio de Botánica y Sistemática

1 - Universidad de los Andes, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Laboratorio de Botánica y Sistemática, Apartado Aéreo 4976, Bogotá, DC, Colombia

Keywords:
Nicolaus Joseph Jacquin
Early Linnaean Botany
Caribbean Botany.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 18
Location: 556A/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 3:00 PM
Number: 18005
Abstract ID:445