Doctissimo atque Celeberrimo D[omin]o D[omin]o Carolo Linnaeo
Med[icinae] D[octori] S[alutem] P[lurimam] D[at] Johannes Fredericus Gronovius.
Heri fasciculus Domino Dillenio inscriptus adjuncta Epistola
Vestra ad me pervenit, et quidem in tempore, quum hodie mane Bibliopola
Londinensis,[1] cui mandante Dillenio literas &tc. traderem, me petierit et reditum
intra octiduum annunciaverit.
Obstupui sane quum ex literis vestris intellexeram D[ominum] Dillenium adhucdum
eleganti ac doctissima vestra Musae descriptione[2] frustratum; forte ad
Millerum missa fuit, qui aut nimis facilis in praestandis beneficiis, aut valde
durus et negligens; nunquam res Dillenio tradendae committantur Millero: huic forte
descriptio Vestra (et sine dubio ejus pseudo-professori, qui in Milleri verba jurare
cogitur[3]) non placebit, quum sit nimis docta et ad ultimum articulum elaborata,
ac proinde censebit Dillenium ea non opus habere, ne tempus suum cum ea perdat.
Ego tamen nescio quid spondeo, quod quam primum D[ominus] Dillenius eam
acceperit, omnia negotia reponet, et se jucundissime sit exhalaturus[sic][a]
lectione istius libri; mihi sane nulli libri aeque bene placent ac Hortus Elth[amensis]
[4] et Musa Cliffortiana.[b] Sed quid hae lachrymae! Valeant ergo.
Iam philyra characterum vestrorum impressa est, quam claudit numerum 485. et pro
sequenti philyra novam (ut typographi loquuntur) copiam dedi, cujus impressionem
procul dubio intra tres dies videre licebit, restitantibus modo paucis characteribus, qui
tres partes philyrae vix implebunt; verum quaeso in posterum in numeris Rivini paulo clarius ac distinctius scribas, nam nec Lawson nec ego
bene possumus distinguere inter numeros 4 et 9 &tc.
Heri vidi plurima ex seminibus meis provenisse. Phaseolus ille albus compressus
maculatus est phaseolus maximus perennis semine compresso, lato, nigris maculis
notato Sloane Hist. 1, p. 175.[5]
Alius phaseolus paulo turgidior est phaseolus erectus major, siliqua tereti, semine
rubro, ibidem 183.[6]
Quam putabam esse Mancanillam sine dubio est Solani species.
Bolle-tree est Ancomas Caribaeorum Plukn. Alm. 306.[7]
Papayae tot provenerunt, ut si vellet acrem hybernum perferre, publicas vias ea
ornare possemus.
Phaseoli quoque et pisi genus quod Surinamensibus optimum praestat edulium,
aperto aere in horto meo optime crescit.
Utinam de iis plantis quae ex seminibus meis in Horto Cliffortii excrevere posses
tecum afferre ramulum cum hanc urbem petis, minime dubitans quin tunc temporis in
meas perventura sit manus[c] thecula quam Catesbojus literis 5
Maij st[ylo] vet[ere][8] ad me datis monet traditam esse mercatori meo Londini, ut
ad me curet. Monebo Te quamprimum ad me pervenerint. Sunt semina Carolinensia et
inter ea Tupelo in terra humida transmissa; forte reliqua non erunt minoris
pretij. Cum autem in animo habeam ea quae plane in Hollandia incognita sunt, cum
nullo nisi D[omino] Cliffortio communicare, necessum foret ut indiculum plantarum
Americanarum quae apud Cliff[ortium] crescunt, tunc Tecum habeas.
Gratulor Tibi opinionem D[omini] Dillenij, sed cum nunc iterum Musam ad illum
mittis, fateri debeo oblitum me esse quid concluserimus, cum una essemus, de
characteribus vestris. Sane ego suaderem Tibi, ut ad ipsum hac occasione mitterentur,
nam sane est homo honestus, laboriosus[d] et doctus, cui characteres vestri erunt
in maximis deliciis.
Alteram partem novorum plantarum generum Cl[arissimi] Michelij
[9] iam proxime a proelo liberam futuram annunciant Literae ex Helvetijs scriptae,
eaedemque Hallerum ac Gesnerum in conscribenda
plantarum Helveticarum Synopsi occupatos esse >eaedem< docent.[10]
Beati Scheuchzeri Musaeum, quod triplici collectione constat,
scilicet Diluvianis rebus, Mineralibus ac Marinis nondum divenditum est, eique pretium
7500 librarum Gallicarum assignant ejus haeredes; ita nec ejus herbarius siccus, qui
ultra 3000 plantas rariores chartae albae imperiali agglutinatas continet, aestimatur
lib[ris] 225.
Quaeso dicas mihi quale plantarum genus sub nomine Swertziae
comprehenditur char. n. 126,[11] itidemque quid sub Myrsine ch[ar.] 154. An sub
Theseo char. 173 comprehendis Linophyllum Pontederae.[12]
Quales species[e] comprehenduntur sub nomine Artediae char. 205, Uvulariae
char. 263.[13] An Stratiotes comprehendit aloen aquaticam char. 454.
Haec scribenti in memoriam incidit nos conclusisse hac occasione Characteres
vestros ad Cl[arissimum] Dillenium mittendos esse mutata Thevetia in
Thevenotia.[14] Utinam Amstelodami D[omino] Dillenio et mihi posses
comparare catalogum plantarum Carelsrohae.[15]
Musaeum lapideum jam nitidissime in ordinem redegi: Londini advecta est cista
pondere 600 librarum ex Cornubia, mineras et metalla continens, quarum pars mihi
debetur.[16]
Quaeso explices mihi ista verba in Gentiana char. 197: “Species est quae
tres quintas partes numeri in flore addit.”[17]
In animo habueram praecedenti die Jovis[18] Harlemum petere, et sic in
transitu te visitasse, sed impedimenta accidebant; interim hodie mane alteram
philyram correxi, quam claudit numerus 507 restantibus modo quindecim generibus,
quae ut crastina habeam curare debebis.
Vale.
Leydae, 15 Junij 1736.
{div-address}[address] Mijn Heer / De Heer Carolus Linnaeus Med[icinae]
Doct[or] / op de Hartecamp / Met de schuyt van half een / den 15 Junij. / Vragt
betaald.
TEXTUAL NOTES
a. [Imo fortasse exhilaraturus]
b. [Cliffortiana scripsi; Cliffortiani scripsit Gronovius]
c. [manus supra lin. add. Gronovius]
d. [laboriosus scripsi; laberiosus ex verbo illegibili scripsit Gronovius]
e. [species ex genera corr. Gronovius]
EXPLANATORY NOTES
1. Quis ?
2. Reference to Musa Cliffortiana (1736).
3. Quis ?
4. Reference to the Hortus Elthamensis written by Johann Jacob Dillenius, professor of botany at Oxford. It was issued in London in 1732. Linnaeus apparently agreed with Gronovius at least to some extent. In his Bibliotheca botanica (1736), he characterizes the work as follows: “Opus, si descriptiones, vel figuras, vel raras plantas consideraveris, vere nobile” (p. 61).
5. Sloane, Historia naturalis Jamaicae, 1, p. 175.
6. Ibid., p. 183.
7. Plukenet, Almagestum botanicum, p. 306, s.v. Prunifera arbor s. Nuci-prunifera: Acomas arbor Caribeorum Montis serrati. It can be inferred from Plukenet’s description that the term ancomas in Gronovius’s letter is a misspelling.
8. 5 May 1736 o.s. = 16 May 1736 n.s.
9. In Bibliotheca botanica (1736), p. 130 Linnaeus informs his readers that Pietro Antonio Micheli has published Nova plantarum genera iuxta Tournefortii methodum. The author is characterized as follows: “Botanicorum vere Lynceus est in examinandis & depingendis minutissimis floribus Muscorum & Fungorum; proxime promisit flores Filicum”. The second volume announced by Linnaeus in his Bibliotheca botanica was never published. In 1748, however, J.T. Tozzetti published a posthumous edition of Micheli’s Catalogus plantarum. See further Gronovius’s letter to Linnaeus of 17 March 1739 n.s.{L0278}.
10. At the time, Albrecht von Haller was preparing his Brevis enumeratio stirpium Horti Gottingensis. It can be inferred from the preface added that the work was partly based on research done by Johann Gesner (p. 10, no. 45).
11. Genera plantarum, no. 126: Swertia.
12. Genera plantarum, no. 173, s.v. Thesium, obs.: “Hinc, quantum differat Linophyllum hocce Pontederae ab Alchemilla, patet conferenti characteres.”
13. From “Uvulariae char. 263” onwards, the letter betrays a slightly different handwriting (different pen), which suggests that the latter part was written somewhat later. This can also be inferred from the contents of the letter. In the first part, Gronovius contends he does not remember whether Linnaeus and he had agreed on sending Dillenius a copy of his Genera plantarum, whereas in the second part he does remember what was agreed upon.
14. These plants are discussed separately in Genera plantarum. See nos. 143 (Thevenotia) and 177 (Thevetia).
15. The botanical gardens of Karlsruhe, which contained several exotical plants, belonged to the “Marchio Bada-Durlacensis” and was taken care of by Christian Thran, a botanist who came from Sleeswijk. In 1733 he composed Index plantarum horti Carolsruhani. In 1747 Josua Rislerus published Hortus Carolsruhanus.
16. See also Gronovius’s letter to Linnaeus of 30 September 1736 n.s.{L0095}.
17. See Genera plantarum, no. 197, s.v. Gentiana, obs.
18. Thursday 14 June, the day before this letter was written and sent to Linnaeus. Dating based on the fact that in 1736 Easter (always a Sunday) was celebrated on 1 April. See Strubbe & Voet, Chronologie, 134.