Some Samples of Facsimile Handwritings

The identification of handwritings on herbarium labels is in many cases important for the estab¬lishment of the origin of specimens, particularly in those cases, where the signature of the writer is absent.

In many instances labels were written by the collectors themselves, in other cases, however, European botanists or clerks wrote either the original labels or those of the duplicate specimens, or both.

Seventy alphabetically arranged facsimiles—the majority traced by kind assistance of Miss Dr J. TH. KOSTER—are reproduced here, 4/5 natural size. This is by no means a complete set of manuscript samples found on labels accompanying Malaysian specimens, but they are, together, a choice of the most frequently recurring handwritings.

The majority of the names entered here are those of collectors or botanists treated in this Cyclopaedia, and details about their life and work may be found there. A few exceptions are listed here:

  • Burman, N. L. (1733, Amsterdam; 1793, Amsterdam), physician, assistant of his father J. BUR- MAN in 1769, since 1777 successor to him as Professor of Botany at Amsterdam, author of the 4 Flora Indica'.
  • Buse, L. H. (1819, Haarlem, Netherlands; 1888, Renkum, Netherlands), lawyer-botanist, who worked mostly on grasses and mosses, especially those collected by JUNGHUHN, REINWARDT, etc.; co-operator in MIQUEL'S 'Plantae Junghuhnianae'.
  • Clarke, CH. B. (1832, Andover, Hants, England; 1906, Kew), lawyer-botanist, who made big botanical collections in India; co-operator in the 'Flora of British India', specialist in Cyperaceae and Gesneraceae.
  • Decaisne, J. (1807, Brussels; 1882, Paris), painter, later assistant at the 'Museum d'Histoire Naturelle' at Paris, since 1848 professor at the 'Jardin des Plantes', author of numerous works including an enumeration of Timorese plants.
  • Diels, L. (1874, Hamburg; 1945, Berlin-Dahlem), brilliant German botanist, late Director of the Botanical Garden and Museum at Berlin-Dahlem, author of many important publications on the flora of China, W. Australia, and Ecuador, on Menispermaceae, Droseraceae, etc., and on phytogeography.
  • Miquel, F. A. W. (1811, Neuenhaus, Hanover; 1871, Utrecht), studied and remained in Hol-land, professor at Utrecht University, author of numerous botanical works, among which the 'Flora Indiae Batavae'.
  • Mueller, F. von (1825, Rostock; 1896, Melbourne), originally a pharmaceutical chemist, who settled at Adelaide, later Director of the Botanical Gardens at Melbourne, co-author of the 'Flora Australienses', one of the most eminent botanists Australia ever had.
  • Ooststroom, S. J. van (1906, Rotterdam; x), senior botanist in the Rijksherbarium at Ley den, Holland, editor of Netherlands Floras, revisor of Malaysian Convolvulaceae, author of several papers on the history of botany.
  • Perry, Miss M. L. Botanist in the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, for a long time working together with Dr MERRILL, co-author of a revision of Bornean Eugenia and an impor-tant series of contributions on the Papuan flora.
  • Roxburgh, W. (1751, Craigie, Scotland; 1815, Edinburgh), physician, in 1776 entering the service of the E.I.C., 1793—1814 Director of the Botanic Gardens at Calcutta, author of the 'Flora Indica', which appeared posthumously through the care of CAREY.
  • Smeets, J. H., from 1856 to 1887 assistant at the Rijksherbarium, Leyden, wrote numerous labels of the Leyden collections and also those of duplicate material distributed by the Rijksherbarium.

(first published in Flora Malesiana Ser. I vol. 1 (1950) CXLVII-CLII)

Images: 
Facsimile Handwritings 1 - click for a larger version
Facsimile Handwritings 2 - click for a larger version
Facsimile Handwritings 3 - click for a larger version
Facsimile Handwritings 4 - click for a larger version
Facsimile Handwritings 5 - click for a larger version