Dissertatio Botanica de Protea

Finely rebound in recent green half morocco over green marbled paper boards with raised spine bands and leather corners. The original text is in surprisingly good condition, clean and bright with trivial hints of spotting at page ends. The text includes three large, foldout illustrations of flora, all three in perfect condition. The upper left corner of the title page bears a small inked stamp of Queens College Belfast and the upper left of the title page verso bears small inked library notation with a "Withdrawn" ink stamp overlay. The beautiful, fine binding is in as-new condition.

Carl Peter Thunberg (1743 - 1828) was a Swedish naturalist and a apostle of Carl Linnaeus. He has been called "the father of South African botany". The Apostles of Linnaeus were a group of students in the latter half of the 18th century who carried out botanical and zoological expeditions throughout the world that were either devised or approved by botanist. In 1771, Thunberg was invited to visit the Dutch colonies and Japan to collect specimens for Dutch botanical gardens. He left in December 1771, as the ship's surgeon in the Dutch East India Company. Upon arrival at Cape Town, Cape Colony, he stayed for three years in order to learn the Dutch language and to be able to pass himself off as a Dutchman, as Japan at that time was only open to Protestant Dutch merchants. He also became a doctor of medicine. During his three expeditions in the interior, he collected a significant number of specimens of both flora and fauna.

Here is Thunberg's study of Protea. Occurring in the wild only on the African continent, the genus Protea is represented by more than 110 species of shrubs and trees, with about two thirds in southern Africa (gathered in a species-rich coastal belt near the southern tip of the continent) and about one third in tropical Africa. Thunberg's botanical contribution is recognized in the present-day botanical nomenclature: Protea cordata, Thunb, Protea laurifolia, Thunb, Protea odorata Thunb.)

In 1781, the year Dessertatio Botanica de Protea was published, Thunberg became professor of medicine and natural philosophy at the University of Uppsala.