As Linnaeus’s respectful servant Jakob Jonas Björnståhl now sends seeds from Rome and Naples. The ones which are numbered are from Rome, the names given are local, significant for the ignorance in botany, especially in Rome; Giovanni Francesco Maratti is conceited and no follower of a system. A lot of other seeds, less rare, will be shipped together with Björnståhl’s books. The enclosed seeds are said to be rare and were enthusiastically welcomed in Paris when Jean-Marie d’Aoust sent them to the Jardin du Roi [Jardin des plantes, Paris]. He is Flemish, a keen botanist and a friend of Björnståhl’s. d’Aoust, a convinced Linnean, sends his respects and his thanks for all knowledge that Linnaeus has given him.
The seeds from Naples were given by Nicola Pacifico, a kind nobleman who has studied Linnaeus’s works and is the owner of a beautiful garden. Domenico Maria Leone Cyrillo is too engaged in medicine to have time for botany. He has promised seeds but has forgotten his promise, because he is busy visiting his patients all day long. Maraldi of Ferrara now lives on Capri and will write a treatise about the natural history of this island. Thus Björnståhl has contacted all possible botanists in order to make them deliver seeds to Linnaeus. No wonder that a country with mountains and metals have excellent men witihin mineralogy, ”docimastiques”, metallurgy etc. It is remarkable though, that, thanks to Linnaeus, people in Italy, France, India and Africa have to turn to ”the icy North” to be informed of their own plants! Linnaeus has made Sweden famous throughout the world. Unfortunately, Björnståhl is not a botanist but he hopes that he will compensate for this lack of expertise by his diligence and good intention. It would be wonderful if he could send seeds of a completely new species to Uppsala University Botanical Garden!
There are unusually many Swedes in Rome this winter. Björnståhl mentions two brothers named Cronstedt [Fredrik Adolf Ulrik Cronstedt and Sven Jakob Cronstedt], Emanuel De Geer, Fredrik Adolf von Numers, Carl Fredrik Rudbeck, Jakob Tobias Sergel, and Johan Jacob Ferber. They were all invited by De Geer to celebrate Christmas. All these gentlemen are a credit to their country. If Linnaeus sees young De Geer’s parents [Charles De Geer and Catharina Charlotta Ribbing], he can report that their son is very popular and loved everywhere. They have all been ”indescribably well received” by the Pope [Clemens XIV]. Many celebrities have visited Rome lately: Duke of Glocester, brother of the English King, the Duke of Saxony-Gotha, the Princess of Saxony, and Alexej Grigorjevitj Orlow. He is now in Livorno, where he next day will have two ships blown up, to show the Duke of Glocester, who has gone there too, how the Russians burnt the Turkish fleet in the Mediterranean. Jean Etienne Guettard has been in Rome and in Naples, a learned and cheerful man; he has now left for Loretto, Ravenna, Bologna and Florence, where they have an appointment with him in Florence in a fortnight. Now De Geer is travelling with him. If they meet again in Florence it will be fun, thereafter they will therafter accompany each other to Venice. Guettard intends to write a description of the physical character of Italy. Björnståhl spends most of his time in libraries reading dusty Arabic, Syrian, Greek and Hebrew manuscripts; he hopes that Ferber, as a real botanist, sends more and rarer seeds to Linnaeus, Björnståhl wishes that they will reach Linnaeus in time to be sown this spring.
If Linnaeus would honour Björnståhl with a letter, it should be sent to Turin or Geneva. He is grateful for Linnaeus’s letter of 9 November 1770 that did not reach him until 19 August 1771 [this letter has not come down to us]. After that Björnståhl has had no news from Uppsala. He sends his respects to all the professors there and mentions by name: Johan Ihre, Carl Aurivillus, Lars Hydrén, Christopher Clewberg, Erik Hesselgren, and Johan Floderus.
P.S. A learned friar by the name of Antonio Minasi has made many discoveries in natural history. He sends letters [Minasi to Linnaeus, 20 June 1771{L6060} and 13 September 1771{L6059}] and other things to be forwarded to Linnaeus by Björnståhl, through Björnståhl’s companion [Carl Fredrik Rudbeck], because these things can not be sent by ordinary post.