Herbarium Amboinense, Plurimas Conplectens, Arbores, Frutices, Herbas, Plantas Terrestres, & Aquaticas, Quae in Amboina et Adjacentibus Reperiuntur Insulis ...

Herbarium Amboinense, Plurimas Conplectens, Arbores, Frutices, Herbas, Plantas Terrestres, & Aquaticas, Quae in Amboina et Adjacentibus Reperiuntur Insulis ...

QK367 .R85

1750

Herbarium amboinense. Amstelaedami: Apud Meinardum Uyterf, 1750. 7 vols., plates, ports. 43x27 cm. Rumphius, as he was also known, was born in Hanau (Germany) in 1627 and died in Ambon Island of the East Indië (now Indonesia) in 1702. He was one of the greatest naturalists of the seventeenth century He was employed by the Dutch East India Company and stationed in Amboina where he met and married an Ambonese woman named Susanna. He honored her by naming her after a white orchid, Flos Susannae, or Bunga Susanna. Rumphius completed this monumentous work in spite of several disasters. In 1670, at the age of 42, he became blind. This wife helped him continue his work on the Herbarium, but in 1674 she and one of their daughters was killed in an earthquake. In 1687, Rumphius' library containing the illustrations and manuscripts for this work were destroyed in a fire that demolished the European quarter of Kota Ambon. With the help of his son and other assistants, he continued working on his manuscript. In 1692, after 40 years of labor during 30 of which he was blind, the original six bulky volumes of the Herbarium amboinense were completed and the manuscript was sent to Holland, but the ship carrying it was sunk in an attack by the French navy. Using the only existing copy of the manuscript, Rumphius again reconstructed the work and in 1697, the entire manuscript finally made it safely to Holland. The Herbarium amboinens was not officially published until 1750, 48 years after the death of the author. His final work, a supplement to Herbarium amboinense, was published as the 7th volume.

In this work, Rumphius introduced a huge number of new plants to European botanists. He was the first botanist to describe epiphytes and the first person to describe Indonesian orchids. Today, the Herbarium continues to influence botanical nomenclature because the original descriptions of many species were published in this work. In addition, the Herbarium amboinense documents the herbal knowledge and remedies of Indonesia at the time and, as the earliest and most exhaustive resoure, continues to be used by ethnographers and ethnobotanists. Rumphius’ works continue to be cited not only for scientific purposes but also due to his remarkable personality and observations of 17th century Indies life.

6 volumes

Asia - Southeast Asia Collection, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library

59