Pieter Cramer
Pieter Cramer (baptized May 21, 1721 in Amsterdam ; † September 28, 1776 ibid) was a Dutch merchant and entomologist .
Life
Cramer was a wealthy merchant who traded in linen and Spanish wool. He was a bachelor and lived in his own house near the Oude Kerk (Oudezijks Voorburgwal 131) in Amsterdam. Cramer was interested in natural history and was a member of the Concordia et Libertate Society , in which he also gave lectures. He was also chairman of the Koninklijk Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen (Royal Society of Sciences of Zealand), founded in 1769.
He put on an extensive natural history collection (conchylia, fossils, minerals, insects). In particular, he collected butterflies from the Dutch colonies (for example Suriname, Ceylon, Sierra Leone, Indonesia). He put on a catalog of his collection, which he had illustrated by the painter Gerrit Wartenaar (1747–1803). He had Wartenaar also illustrate specimens from other butterfly collections in the Netherlands ( Wilhelm V , Baron Hans Willem Rengers (1722–1786), son of the former governor of Surinam Joan Raye, and others). In his will of 1774 he arranged for his nephew Antoon van Rensselaer to publish the illustrations. They appeared in 33 deliveries (every three months to around 270 subscribers) from 1775 to 1782 at the bookseller Johannes Baalde (summarized in 4 volumes). He himself only saw 8 episodes of the first volume delivered. The text is in two columns, Dutch and French. The illustrations were hand-colored and life-size and accompanied by descriptions by him or Caspar Stoll , using the then new system from Carl von Linné and the first book about exotic butterflies with Linné's system. Around 1600 species were presented on around 400 tables and 700 pages. The description is not always sufficient for an exact determination, and the original copies of his collection (and type copies of his first descriptions and those of Stoll) could not all be located or were partially lost. Wartenaar's original watercolors, which show more detail than the engravings, are in the Natural History Museum .
His collection was scattered after his death, but a large part came to the Dutch National Natural History Museum ( Naturalis ) via the collection of Joan Raye, Herr von Breukelenwaert (also Raye van Breukelenwaert), who bought the museum in 1827. Other parts were in the collection of Jan Calkoen, who died in 1813 and whose widow had the collection auctioned in 1814 - a large part also went to the Natural History Museum.
Works
- De uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen Asia, Africa en America - Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amerique , Amsterdam: Baalde, 1775–1782, digitized , * digitized SUB Göttingen
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ He is described by Cramer as lieutenant general of the cavalry, chamberlain to the Princess of Orange and patron of the arts and sciences. He was a subscriber to the Butterfly Book. He fought at the Battle of Recoux in 1746.
- ^ Joan Raye junior (Johan Raye van Breukelerwaard), 1737-1823, son of Joan Raye senior (1699-1737), also Raije
- ^ John Calhoun, Affirmation of the name Papilio Hyllus CRAMER (Lycenidae) for a nearctic butterfly, with the designation of a neotype, Journal of the Lepidopterists Society, Volume 64, 2010, pp. 79-90, pdf
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cramer, Pieter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch businessman and entomologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 21, 1721 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Amsterdam |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 28, 1776 |
| Place of death | Amsterdam |