Mark Catesby
Mark Catesby (* April 3, 1683; † December 1749 ) was an English natural historian. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Catesby ".
He published 1731-1743 his work Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first collection of the flora and fauna of North America, with 220 lithographs of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and mammals.
Life and work
Catesby was baptized in Castle Hedingham, Essex. His father was a lawyer. John Ray, a family friend, woke Catesby's interest in natural history, which he later studied in London. After graduating in 1712 he moved with his sister to Williamsburg ( Virginia). The money for this came from the legacy of his father, who died in 1706. In 1714 he toured the West Indies. In 1719 he returned to England.
He collected seeds and plant parts in Virginia, which he sent to Thomas Fairchild after Hoxton what Catesby made known in English science. Thus, the Royal Society in 1722 it financed an expedition to Carolina. He settled in Charlestown and toured the whole of eastern North America and the Caribbean, where he collected plants and birds. These he sent to Hans Sloane in 1726 until he returned to England.
Over the next 16 years Catesby worked on his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the publication of which was financed by the Royal Society and especially by Peter Collinson. Catesby was the first who used full-page color photo panels in a book of natural history. He etched the panels yourself The first 18 tablets had no background, but then began to combine Catesby plant and animal illustrations. The first volume was completed in 1731. Another band appeared 1743rd Catesby died just before Christmas in 1749, and was buried on December 23.
On April 26, 1733 he was elected to the Royal Society.
Linnaeus took over a lot of information from the Natural History in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae ( 1758).
Ehrentaxon
Carl Linnaeus named in his honor, the genus of the plant family Rubiaceae Catesbea ( Rubiaceae ).