Characteres generum plantarum : quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis, collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis MDCCLXXII-MDCCLXXV / Joannes Reinoldus Forster, LL.D. Societ. Reg. Scient. ut & Antiq. ap. Lond. Sodalis. et Georgius Forster.
Publication details: Londini : Prostant apud B. White, T. Cadell, & P. Elmsly, MDCCLXXVI [1776]. Description: x,[2],viii,150,[2] pages, 75 leaves of engraved plates : illustrationsSubject(s): Botany -- Oceania -- 18th century | Botany -- South Sea Islands -- Early works to 1800 | Botany -- New Zealand -- Early works to 1800 | Botanical Illustration -- Early works to 1800Summary: The Characteres Generum Plantarum of Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster was the principal printed botanical work emanating from James Cook's second voyage of 1772-1775. The printing most frequently encountered is a 31.2 cm quarto dated 1776 (i.e. the copy in hand) that was probably run off in several hundred copies. A single 1775 quarto was recently discovered. Also produced was a well-known but very rare 47.5 cm folio. The book contains 78 plates, the majority of which depict dissections of flowers at natural size. The book introduced 94 binomial names from 75 genera, of which 43 are still the accepted names today. Many plant genera were named after friends or patrons of the Forsters. The book was published in a folio and a quarto edition and translated into German in 1779. It is an important book as the earliest publication of names and descriptions of the native species of New Zealand.| Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
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Early Printed Book
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RPS Library Early Printed Collection | Basement Store Shelf 30.3 (581.9:292.94/.99 FOR) (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Not For Loan | 221607 |
English Short Title Catalog, N27449.
The Characteres Generum Plantarum of Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster was the principal printed botanical work emanating from James Cook's second voyage of 1772-1775. The printing most frequently encountered is a 31.2 cm quarto dated 1776 (i.e. the copy in hand) that was probably run off in several hundred copies. A single 1775 quarto was recently discovered. Also produced was a well-known but very rare 47.5 cm folio. The book contains 78 plates, the majority of which depict dissections of flowers at natural size. The book introduced 94 binomial names from 75 genera, of which 43 are still the accepted names today. Many plant genera were named after friends or patrons of the Forsters. The book was published in a folio and a quarto edition and translated into German in 1779. It is an important book as the earliest publication of names and descriptions of the native species of New Zealand.
Manuscript annotation at foot of t.p.: Jary (?) 1843 to the Pharmaceutical Society of G. B. from William Ashton, Chemist, Alford, Lincolnshire. Previous Accession Number: 1475. Previous Classmark: 582/9:97(265/6). Previous location: Basement Store Shelf 30.3.
Rebound 14 May 1954.