Sydney C. Parkinson
Sydney C. Parkinson (* 1745 in Edinburgh , † January 26, 1771 at sea on the return trip from Batavia, today Jakarta ) was a British natural history draftsman. Its official botanical author's abbreviation is " Parkinson ".
Live and act
Parkinson was hired by Joseph Banks in 1768 to accompany James Cook's first expedition to the Pacific (1768–1771) as a naturalist. Banks got two artists to record the discoveries made during the expedition: Parkinson for the botanical drawings and Alexander Buchan for the landscape painting. Parkinson and Buchan became friends. After Buchan's death in Tahiti , Parkinson had to take over his duties. He made almost 1,000 drawings of plants and animals that Banks and Daniel Solander collected on the trip. It is thanks to him that the first portrayal of a kangaroo reached Europe. Parkinson died of bacterial dysfunction on the return trip to Great Britain at sea . The ship was on its way to Cape Town .
Parkinson was a member of the Quaker faith . In his lifetime it was not a matter of course to earn a living with art. It may have been tolerated because it served scientific purposes. Parkinson, along with other crew members of the Endeavor, was the first European to undergo a tattoo by Tahitians .
His work A Journal of a voyage to the South Seas… was published posthumously in 1773 at the instigation of his brother Stanfield. A second edition took place as early as 1784. The Parkinson's petrel ( Procellaria parkinsoni ) was named after him. His drawings were published in 35 volumes by Alecto Historical Editions in 1988 and then digitized by the Natural History Museum in London.
Here are some examples of his plant drawings:
literature
- Robert Zander : Zander concise dictionary of plant names . Ed .: Fritz Encke , Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold . 13th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-8001-5042-5 .
Web links
- Author entry and list of the described plant names for Sydney C. Parkinson at the IPNI
- Chelsie Vandaveer : Who Was Parkinson's? . Killerplants.com , August 15, 2013; archived from the original on January 19, 2010 ; accessed on January 5, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
- Parkinson's posthumously published A Journal of a voyage to the South Seas… , 1773 , online at the National Library of Australia
Individual evidence
- ^ "The Endeavor," Captain Cook Society; quoted at killerplants.com
- ↑ Internet
- ^ "Cook", by Tony Horwitz, 5th edition 2009, page 75
- ^ "Cook", by Tony Horwitz, 5th edition 2009, page 89
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Parkinson, Sydney C. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British natural history draftsman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1745 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Edinburgh |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 26, 1771 |
| Place of death | Batavia, today Jakarta |