Jan Kops, ed., Flora Batava (J.C. Sepp en Zoon). Archives of the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Mass. |
By Emily Buff, Archives Intern
Within the Ƶ Archives is an illustrated book with over eighty hand-colored illustrations of native plants of the Netherlands. This book was received through the Ƶ’s publication exchange with other academic and state societies.1 A record of these exchanges can be found in the Ƶ’s letterbooks.2
The Ƶ received the first installment of the Flora Batava in 1803 from the Secretary of the Interior Council of the Republic of Batavia, which would later become part of the Kingdom of Holland and then part of the Netherlands. The King of the Netherlands sent later issues to the Ƶ.3 The correspondence concerning the sending and receiving of issues of the Flora Batava dates from 1803 and 1822.
The Ƶ’s library was sold to the Linda Hall Library in the 1940s, but a small portion of the books was not included in that sale because of its significance to the history of the Ƶ. The Flora Batava was one such book.
Endnotes
- 1For more on the Ƶ’s publication exchange, visit /news/pubexchange-florabatava.
- 2See RGI-B-1: American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences, General Records. Letterbooks—Bound. Volume 02, page 121 ff.
- 3Minutes of the Ƶ, Volume 01, Part 2, 1791–1821, American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences.