James Petiver
James Petiver (* 1663 in Hillmorton, rugby, † April 20, 1718 in London) was a British botanist and entomologist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Petiver ".
Life and work
James Petiver is the son of his father's eponymous James Petiver and his wife Mary Elborowe, daughter of Richard Elborowe.
He completed his training in pharmacy at Mr. Feltham, the apothecary of St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and settled in 1692 in Aldersgate Street in the vicinity of St Bartholomew's Hospital as a pharmacist himself down. His business flourished and he was soon pharmacist of the London Charter House.
On November 27, 1695 Petiver was elected to the Royal Society.
Over the years, James Petiver built on an extensive natural history collection. He commissioned captains and doctors bring him plant and animal species and gave them to detailed written instructions. He received particularly much material from the British colonies in North America. 1697 included his collection of 6000 pieces. She was one of the most visited collections in London and was described in detail in Musei Petiverani through him.
James Petiver led an extensive correspondence. Early on, he appeared with John Ray in contact he also assisted in the compilation of the second volume of his Historia generalis plantarum (1688 ). Several other correspondents were Johann Philipp Breyne, William Byrd (1674-1744), Georg Joseph Kamel, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Cotton Mather, Joan Salvador i Riera (1683-1725), Richard Richardson (1663-1741), Johann Jacob Scheuchzer and Charles Atkins (possibly the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's Gulliver Lemuel figure ).
1709 appointed him the Society of Apothecaries to Pflanzendemonstrator. In 1711 he traveled to Leiden to Hans Sloane to acquire the collection of Paul Hermann.
Petiver remained unmarried and died in 1718 in his house in Aldersgate Street.
After his death, Hans Sloane acquired his extensive collection. Today it is a part of the Sloane Herbarium of the Natural History Museum in London.
Ehrentaxon
Charles Plumier named in his honor the genus Petiveria the plant family of Pokeweed ( Phytolaccaceae ). Linnaeus later took the name.
Writings (selection )
From 1697 to 1714/16 published Petiver numerous articles in the Philosophical Transactions ( Volume 19 to 29).
- Musei Petiverani Centuria. London from 1692 to 1703.
- Pterigraphia Americana. London 1712 ( GDZ Göttingen).
- Aquatilium Animalium Amboinae, & c. Icones & nouns. London 1713 ( GDZ Göttingen).
- Gazophylacium naturae et artis. London 1702-1709 ( GDZ Göttingen).
- A Catalogue of Mr Ray 's English herbal illustrated .... From 1713 to 1715.