John Sibthorp

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John Sibthorp, relief by Flaxman

John Sibthorp (born October 28, 1758 in Oxford , † February 8, 1796 in Bath ) was an English botanist . Its official botanical author abbreviation is “ Sibth. "

Life

Origin and education

His father, Dr. Humphrey Waldo Sibthorp (1713–1797) was from 1747 to 1784 holder of the famous, William Sherard- named chair of botany at the University of Oxford . In his second marriage he married Elisabeth Gibbs (1758–1780). John was the only descendant from this compound. After graduating from Oxford in 1777, John enrolled in Oxford for medical school. He then studied in Edinburgh , Paris and Montpellier . After working as a doctor in the Oxford Hospital, the Radcliffe Infirmary, he was appointed to the Oxford Botany Chair in 1784, which his father had previously held. In 1785 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences . In 1788 Sibthorp was one of the founding members of the Linnean Society . At times he devoted himself to researching the flora of Oxford and the surrounding area. The result of this work was Flora Oxoniensis published in 1794 .

First trip to Greece

He left Oxford as early as 1785 to prepare for a major research trip as a Radcliffe Traveling Fellow in Göttingen and Vienna . In Vienna he mainly wanted to study the Codex Vindobonensis , a valuable illustrated manuscript from the years before 512 which provided information about which plants Pedanios Dioscurides , a military doctor in the Roman army around the year 60, had considered medicinal. From Vienna he set out in 1786 together with the geologist John Hawkins (1761–1841) towards Greece. He had previously met the famous botanist and chemist Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin and through him the artist and illustrator Ferdinand Bauer (1760–1826). He persuaded the latter to come with him to Greece and the Levant and to support the expedition as a botanical draftsman. Sibthorp and Hawkins were excellent scientists and experts of antiquity, they had a good command of Greek and Latin. On their expeditions, they not only pursued their scientific interests, but also fulfilled their dream of a " Grand Tour ". The journey to the eastern Mediterranean region in 1786 and 1787 led to Greece, the Aegean Sea, western Anatolia and Cyprus. Sibthorp returned to Oxford in 1788 with an extensive collection of plants and animals, many new to science. In the Physic Garden at Oxford University , a section has been specially reserved for Sibthorp's Greek plants. Seeds were also given to the Kew Botanical Gardens near London.

Second trip to Greece and death

In 1794 Sibthorp went on another research trip to Greece, which was a failure because of his poor health. At the end of 1795 he returned seriously ill and died a few months later in Bath of tuberculosis . In Bath Abbey , an inscription and a classical relief by the sculptor John Flaxman (1755–1826) commemorates the botanist. It shows the researcher returning from Greece with some plants in hand. The building recognizable in the background is not a Greek temple, as has often been assumed, but the “Danby Gate”, one of the three entrances to the Physic Garden in Oxford.

Main work and estate

Flora Graeca

Frontispiece of the first volume of Flora Graeca (1806)

In his will, Sibthorp conscientiously made arrangements for the publication of his estate. He bequeathed his library to Oxford University and established a professorship for agriculture attached to the botany chair. He also bequeathed one of his country estates to the university and ordered that the proceeds from the lease agreements should be used to finance the publication of his scientific research results. He laid down the title, format and scope of a 10-volume Flora Graeca in folio format down to the last detail , of which each individual volume should contain 100 illustrations by Ferdinand Bauer. An annotated list of all plants known from Greece ( Florae Graecae Prodromus ) should be published beforehand.

James Edward Smith wrote the texts on the basis of Sibthorp's notes and the plants he collected. The two volumes of the Prodromus appeared in 1806 and 1813, while the first six volumes of the Flora Graeca were published between 1806 and 1828. The seventh volume appeared in 1830, after Smith's death. The mammoth project with the last three volumes was completed between 1833 and 1840 by John Lindley . This means that 54 years had passed from the first trip to the completion of the work.

The work was financed through a subscription. The very small total edition of approx. 25 copies made Flora Graeca one of the most precious botanical works of the 19th century. Even then, the work was so expensive that the British Museum filed a civil lawsuit to obtain a free copy. It lost the case.

A volume also planned by Sibthorp on the animal world of Greece ( Fauna Graeca ) did not materialize.

herbarium

Sibthorp's plant collection is now part of the Fielding Druce Herbarium in Oxford and comprises around 2,700 specimens that Sibthorp, Hawkins and their helpers collected during the research trips from 1786 to 1787 and 1794 to 1795. Accordingly, they come mainly from Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Italy, Bulgaria and Romania. The collection contains about 600 taxa which were new to science at the time and which were mainly described by JE Smith.

Taxa named after Sibthorp

The scientific names of at least 40 plant species are reminiscent of John Sibthorp, including Crepis sibthorpiana , Fritillaria sibthorpiana , Helichrysum sibthorpii , Ornithogalum sibthorpii and Thymus sibthorpii . The genus Sibthorpia from the plantain family (Plantaginaceae) was named after his father, Humphrey Waldo Sibthorp.

literature

  • Stephen Harris: The Magnificent Flora Graeca. How the Mediterranean Came to the English Garden. Bodleian Library, Oxford 2007, ISBN 1-85124-306-2 .
  • Hans Walter Lack, David J. Mabberley: The Flora Graeca Story: Sibthorp, Bauer, and Hawkins in the Levant. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-19-854897-4 .
  • Hans Walter Lack: The Sibthorpian Herbarium in Oxford - guidelines for its use. In: Taxon. Volume 46, No. 2, 1997, pp. 253-263, JSTOR 1224095 .

Web links

Commons : Flora Graeca  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 225.
  2. ^ Johanna Oehler: "Abroad at Göttingen" British students as actors in the transfer of cultural knowledge 1735–1806 , Wallstein, Göttingen 2016, pp. 326–344
  3. ↑ John Sibthorp, James E. Smith: Flora Graeca. 10 volumes. London 1806-1840.
  4. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Sibthorp, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English botanist
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1758
PLACE OF BIRTH Oxford
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1796
Place of death Bath