Caspar Commelijn or Caspar Commelin (14 October 1668

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

– 25 December 1731 Amsterdam), was a Dutch

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Life and work

He was the son of the bookseller, historian and publisher, Casparus Commelijn and his first wife, Margrieta Heydanus. His grandfather was

Isaac Commelin Isaac Commelin (19 October 1598, in Amsterdam – 13 January 1676, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch historian, a member of the vroedschap and a manager of a :nl:Binnengasthuis (Amsterdam), charity hospital, providing help to the sick and poor. Life Isaa ...

. He enrolled on 12 September 1692 at

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

as a student of medicine and graduated on 27 February 1694 with a dissertation ''De lumbricis'' ("About earthworms", Ludg. Bat. 1694). After graduation, he settled in his birthplace. When Peter Hotton departed for Leiden in 1696, Caspar was appointed to the post of botanist at the

Hortus ''Hortus'' is a quarterly journal covering gardens and horticulture, privately published in the United Kingdom. The journal was founded in 1987 by David Wheeler. See also *List of horticultural magazines This is a list of notable magazines dev ...

. He succeeded his uncle

Jan Commelin Jan Commelin (23 April 1629 – 19 January 1692), also known as Jan Commelijn, Johannes Commelin or Johannes Commelinus, was a botanist, and was the son of historian Isaac Commelin; his brother Casparus was a bookseller and newspaper publisher. J ...

, who together with Joan Huydecoper founded the

Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam ''Hortus Botanicus'' is a botanical garden in the Plantage district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is one of the world's oldest botanical gardens. History Amsterdam City Council founded the ''Hortus Botanicus'' (initially named the '' ...

. Caspar worked on books that were left uncompleted by the death of his uncle,

, and enjoyed the support of

Nicolaes Witsen Nicolaes Witsen (; 8 May 1641 – 10 August 1717) was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693, he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1689, he was extraordinary-ambas ...

Ruysch Ruysch or Ruijsch is a Dutch patronymic surname, derived from the archaic Dutch given name ''Ruis''.Ruis
at the Corpus of F ...

arranged for the city of Amsterdam to finance the publication. In 1703, he published a work on the systematics of rare exotic plants. In 1706, he was appointed as professor at the Athenaeum Illustre.

Frederik Ruysch Frederik Ruysch (; March 28, 1638 – February 22, 1731) was a Dutch botanist and anatomist. He is known for developing techniques for preserving anatomical specimens, which he used to create dioramas or scenes incorporating human parts. His ana ...

and Commelin divided the work, so that Ruysch dealt with the indigenous plants, and Commelijn the exotics. Jan Commelin, based his work on the taxonomic system devised by

John Ray John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (November 29, 1627 – January 17, 1705) was a Christian England, English Natural history, naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his ...

. Caspar was friends with the writer and artist

Maria Sibylla Merian Maria Sibylla Merian (2 April 164713 January 1717) was a German Entomology, entomologist, naturalist and scientific illustrator. She was one of the earliest European naturalists to document observations about insects directly. Merian was a desce ...

, and he wrote the botanical footnotes to her magnum opus, the ''Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium'', where he used his botanical knowledge to further describe and catalogue plants that were already known to Europeans. He also commissioned Merian's elder daughter Johanna to draw some of the artwork for his own books. Commelin grew up in the neighbourhood of O.Z. Achterburgwal, and lived, after his first marriage, on the

Singel The Singel () is one of the canals of Amsterdam. The Singel encircled Amsterdam in the Middle Ages, serving as a moat around the city until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ bay, near the Central St ...

and after the second on the

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinseng ...

510 near

Leidsestraat Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans, ...

. In 1724, Caspar Commelin, while an inspector at the ''Collegium Medicum'', had his portrait painted by

Cornelis Troost Cornelis Troost (8 October 1696 – 7 March 1750) was a Dutch actor and painter from Amsterdam. Troost was trained as an actor and married the actress Susanna Maria van der Duyn, but became a pupil of Arnold Boonen and gave up his career fo ...

. The painting is to be seen at the

Amsterdams Historisch Museum The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the Amstelhof on the ...

. On his death, he was succeeded by

Johannes Burman Johannes Burman (26 April 1707 in Amsterdam – 20 February 1780), was a Dutch botanist and physician. Burman specialized in plants from Ceylon, Amboina and Cape Colony. The name ''Pelargonium'' was introduced by Johannes Burman. Johannes ...

Works

* '' Flora Malabarica sive Horti Malabarici catalogus exhibens omnium eiusdem Plantarum nomina, quae è variis, tum veteribus tum recentioribus Botanicis collegit, & in ordinen Alphabeticum digessit'' (Leiden, 1696). * ''Plantarum usualium horti medici Amstelodamensis Catalogus'' (Amsterdam, 1698) * ''Praeludia Botanica ad Publicas Plantarum exoticarum demonstrationes, dicta in Horto Medico, cum demonstrationes exoticarum 3 Octobris 1701, & 29 Mai 1702'' (Leiden, 1703)
Digital edition
by the

University and State Library Düsseldorf The University and State Library Düsseldorf (, abbreviated ULB Düsseldorf) is a central service institution of Heinrich Heine University. Along with Bonn and Münster, it is also one of the three State Libraries of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

* ''Horti medici Amstelaedamensis Plantae Rariores et Exoticae Ad vivum aeri incisae'' (Leiden, 1706) * ''Botano-Graphia a nominum barbarismis restituta, quam Florae-Malabaricae nomine celebrem, alphabetice ordinavit'' (Leiden, 1718) * ''Caspari Commelini Horti Medici Amstelaedamensis plantarum usualium catalogus'' (Amsterdam, 1724)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commelijn, Caspar 1668 births 1731 deaths 17th-century Dutch botanists 18th-century Dutch botanists Pre-Linnaean botanists Scientists from Amsterdam Burials at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam