ConclusIon

Ambassador of Flora

Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin received the result of a prior disposition and of political many titles and held high offices during his circumstances. long and prosperous life. However, the great- As we have seen, Jacquin came from a est distinction conferred upon him was being wealthy family, capable of providing him a sol- considered “Ambassador of Flora” by the great- id education in Greek and Roman classics, and est naturalist of all times, Carl von Linnaeus. medical instruction in his hometown of Leiden Although in recent years we have learnt with prominent figures of the time, particular- a great deal about Jacquin’s life and achieve- ly in botany at its epicenter. Jacquin’s French ments, mainly through the work of Austrian Catholic background in a Protestant Dutch scholars, his contribution to American Botany, society prompted him, as was the case with which earned him the above title, has only many Dutch members of the learned society, been mentioned in passing and not given the to emigrate to Austria where, as members of significance it deserves. In fact, it was defini- the Austrian Netherlands, they were welcomed tive in forging Jacquin’s professional life and and began to form part of the academic elite. spurring his future as the “Austrian Linnaeus,” In this, the patronage of Gerard van Swieten, a the “Prince of German speaking botanists,” the family friend who had earlier moved to Vienna “Crown jewel of Austria’s botanists,” etc.1 Lin- after having found difficulties in ascending in naeus added Jacquin to the list of prominent Dutch academic ranks, was undoubtedly ben- collectors and authors in the introduction to eficial. Jacquin’s arrival in Vienna, at the begin- the twelfth edition of the Systema Naturae, ning of the Austrian Enlightenment, allowed and immortalized his name with the genus him to continue his scientific education and Jacquinia, to which many beautiful plants of enabled him to participate in the development the Caribbean belong. of science. As has often been the case with great natu- Motivated by the curiosity of the eighteenth ralists in the history of science, it was through century royalty towards natural history as a their participation in expeditions and the source of economic power, Jacquin met with timely publication of their discoveries that the fortune of serving Franz I, an emperor par- they were able to become great naturalists. ticularly fond of natural history objects, includ- Timely in the sense of being prompt to act, ing rare plants and animals. Jacquin’s expertise and particularly of being opportune in incor- and family connections in French and Dutch porating their work within the canons of cur- colonies in the Caribbean were the perfect rent knowledge, therefore becoming part of credentials for a person to be charged with the the avant-gard; Jacquin was without doubt one commission of providing the necessary plants of these. However, participation in such expe- and animals to fill the empty beds, hothouses ditions was not entirely serendipitous; it was and cages of the botanical garden and zoo at Schönbrunn palace, and augmenting the col- 1 Sprengel 1808, Kronfeld 1905 and legend on Jac- lections of the Natural History Cabinet in Vi- quin’s bust at University of Vienna. enna. With strict instructions and ample funds NIKOLAUS JOSEPH JACQUIN’S AMERICAN PLANTS as well as aides, Jacquin set out on a journey concentrating on his mission. Though Jacquin that would change his life forever. Always fol- had purchased a slave to help him with the lowing his instructions by the book, and fulfill- keeping of plants and animals, he later learned ing his duties thoroughly, Jacquin nevertheless of the horrors of the slave trade, while travel- met with numerous difficulties which he man- ing in a ship crammed with slaves in inhumane aged to overcome through perseverance and and horrible conditions. He was captured by good judgment. Unlike Charles Plumier, who pirates on several occasions and lost some of at age forty-three already a well-established his most precious possessions, such as his di- scientist, traveled as assistant in the expedi- ary; but he never stopped collecting, taking tion led by Joseph Donat Surian to the French careful notes and making careful drawings of colonies in America, or Hans Sloane, who as the live plants in their habitat. In several failed member of the Royal Society and well experi- attempts to return home, he reached unfore- enced in natural history expeditions, accom- seen lands such as mainland South America, panied the Duke of Albemarle in his voyage to where in Cartagena, despite not having previ- Jamaica, Jacquin, single-handed, led what was ously sought permits, he was allowed to col- probably meant to be a short voyage of collec- lect. In eight months he collected 158 species, tion but became one of the greatest scientific almost half of all the plants he had seen during expeditions to the Caribbean at the time. the whole four-year voyage. Having been instructed to collect live, His success was not only measured in the aesthetically pleasing and tasty plants, and amount of live plants and animals which suc- handsome animals, Jacquin’s task was not an cessfully reached Vienna, and the thousands easy one. It meant that he had to restrict his of shells, corals, and other natural history ob- collections to coastal plants, which could eas- jects, including the coins explicitly demanded ily be transported on small boats to makeshift by the emperor, but in the prompt and proper nurseries, until enough were amassed to jus- publication of at least his botanical findings. tify a very costly shipment. The animals were Written in perfect Latin, and following the not an easier task; they had to be collected revolutionary system of Linnaeus (despite its in pairs, fed, bred, and placed onboard with shortcomings and opposition from certain notes to their keepers during the voyage and circles, including Viennese), his books, prod- after arrival in Vienna. All this was done by a uct of this expedition, remain today an im- person with little knowledge of gardening or portant source of consultation for the study zoo keeping, well before the development of of American botany. In contrast to the two Wardian cases and the like to efficiently trans- other contemporary naturalists in the region, port live plants and animals in long transat- Patrick Browne and Jean Baptiste Mathieu lantic voyages. Jacquin’s knowledge of at least Thibault de Chanvalon, Jacquin had the ben- French and Dutch was a great advantage, as efit of having studied the Linnaean canons in were his family connections. He lived through Leiden, and can thus be considered the first the perils of the Seven Years War, known in the Linnean botanist in America. The illustrations Caribbean as the Sugar Wars, survived a major of the American plants included in these hurricane, suffered from dysentery and yel- books, produced at great expense, were, at the low fever, and avoided malaria thanks to his time, great improvements on previously pub- medical training. He was courted by young la- lished works, and are today important sources dies, but as Stafleu put it, “apparently steered of information in asserting the identity of the free from emotional colonial involvements,” plants described. The notes accompanying the

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