Nicolaas Meerburgh (1734 in

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 ...

– 20 March 1814 in Leiden) was a

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

gardener,

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 ...

and botanical

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. His date of birth is unknown, but he was baptized on February 3, 1734. He was possibly trained by the gardener Adriaan Steckhoven. In 1752 he became a subservient in the

Hortus Botanicus Leiden The Hortus botanicus of Leiden is the oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands, and one of the oldest in the world. It is located in the southwestern part of the historical centre of the city, between the Academy building and the old Leiden Ob ...

, where he remained for the rest of his life. He worked under three directors:

Adriaan van Royen Adriaan van Royen (11 November 1704 in Leiden – 28 February 1779 in Leiden) was a Dutch botanist. He was a professor at Leiden University and is associated with Carl Linnaeus. He is best known for his work on flora of Southeast Asia. Adr ...

David van Royen David van Royen (30 December 1727 – 29 April 1799) was a Dutch physician and botanist who worked at the Hortus Botanicus Leiden where he succeeded his uncle Adriaan van Royen (1704-1779) as director. Biography Van Royen was born in an upper-class ...

and

Sebald Justinus Brugmans Sebald Justinus Brugmans (24 March 1763, Franeker – 22 July 1819, Leiden) was a Dutch people, Dutch botanist and physician. He was the son of naturalist Anton Brugmans (1732–1789). Brugmans studied philosophy, mathematics and physics at the ...

. In 1774, he became the curator there, and he remained there until his death in 1814. In 1775 he published the first volume of his "Portraits of Rare Plants" (), which was followed by four other volumes, of which in 1780 the latter was published. The volumes contain 50

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s, which he made of plants from the Hortus botanicus Leiden and butterflies. In 1789 he published ''Plantae rariores vivis coloribus depictae'', a full

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

version of his earlier work with 55 color plates and four extra pages of text and also published ''Plantarum selectarum icones pictae'' with 28 color images . The standard abbreviation Meerb. is used to denote botanical names that he has published. An example of a botanical name he published is ''

Impatiens capensis ''Impatiens capensis'', the orange jewelweed, common jewelweed, spotted jewelweed, jewelweed, spotted touch-me-not, or orange balsam, is an annual plant in the family Balsaminaceae that is native to North America. It is common in bottomland so ...

'' Meerb. (1775). The

Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropy, philanthropist Henry Shaw (philanthropist), Henry Shaw. I ...

owns original copies of ''Pictures of Rare Crops'' and ''Plantarum selectarum icones pictae'' and has put them

Digitized Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english ...

and put them on the Internet. Macrolepidoptera15seit 0137.jpg, Macrolepidoptera Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.2096353 - Meerburg, N. - Baptisia tinctoria Robert Brown - Artwork.jpeg, Baptisia tinctoria Robert Brown with butterfly Sideritis perfoliata and Papilio echion-original.jpg, Sideritis perfoliata with Papilio echion Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.2096368 - Meerburg, N. - Leea crispa Linnaeus - Artwork.jpeg, Leea crispa Linnaeus Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe (8588315979).jpg, Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe

Bibliography

*''The Leiden Hortus, a botanical heritage'', W.K.H. Karstens & H. Kleibrink, Waanders, 1982, *''Hortus Academicus Lugduno-Batavus'', 1587-1937, H. Veendorp & L.G.M. Baas Becking, first edition in 1938, reissue in 1990 with an added introduction by C. Kalkman,

References

External links

''Rare Crop Images''

''Plantae selectarum icons pictae''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meerburgh, Nicolaas 1734 births 1814 deaths 18th-century Dutch botanists 19th-century Dutch botanists