Artefact Unearthing treasures from the Daniel Solander Library

THE BLIND SEER

OF AMBON

AMONG THE DANIEL SOLANDER LIBRARY’S MANY RARE BOOKS IS A SIX-VOLUME WORK WITH A BACKSTORY THAT ALMOST DEFIES BELIEF. MIGUEL GARCIA REPORTS.

The German botanist Georg Eberhard Rumphius devoted his life to the sober study of the natural history of Indonesia, but his personal story was nothing short of a sensational drama, punctuated by ill fortune, wild adventure and heartbreaking tragedy.

Born and raised in Hanau, near Frankfurt am Main, Rumphius received a classical education and learned German and Dutch. Seeking to experience the wider world – and escape a Germany torn apart by the devastating Thirty Years' War − he signed up with the Dutch West India Company and in 1646 boarded the ominous sounding The Black Raven, headed for Brazil. The vessel was promptly shipwrecked, and Rumphius was captured by the Portuguese, who held him as a prisoner for three years.

In 1652 he joined the Dutch East India Company military as midshipman and arrived in Batavia (Jakarta) in July 1653, from where he was posted to the Ambon archipelago (part of the Moluccas) in the east of Indonesia, as an engineer and junior officer. After transferring to the Company’s civilian branch, he rose rapidly through the ranks and by 1666 was ‘secunde’, directly answering to the governor-general in Batavia.

Rumphius married a local woman, Suzanna, and became fascinated with the natural history of these famed Spice Islands, developing such knowledge of Amboina (Ambon) that the governor-general, a patron of the

Durian

‘The vessel carrying the manuscript was attacked and sunk by a French privateer’

sciences, waived Rumphius' official duties to enable him to concentrate on his studies.

Despite the distance, Rumphius sent to Holland for botanical reference works and communicated with many European scientists and noble patrons such as the Medici in Tuscany. He also embarked on his magnum opus, the Het Amboinsche kruidboek or Herbarium Amboinense, a catalogue of the plants of Amboina, and over a 30-year period compiled six volumes on the island’s natural history.

Considering the challenges Herbarium Amboinense had to overcome, it is a wonder that this remarkable work was ever published. For a start, Rumphius lost his sight in 1670 to glaucoma. The unflappable naturalist continued his work with the aid of his wife, who would consult with the women of Amboina and acquire from them ethnobotanical information they would not convey to a man. Then in 1674 Suzanna and one of his daughters were killed by a wall collapse during an earthquake and tsunami.

Rumphius pushed on, and 13 years later, with the ill-fated publication almost complete, a great fire destroyed his library, numerous manuscripts, original illustrations for the Herbarium, and many priceless reference works. Finally, in 1690 Rumphius sent his completed manuscripts to Holland for publication, only for the vessel carrying it to be attacked and sunk by a French privateer.

Georg Rumphius

‘It is estimated that less than 30 complete sets of Herbarium Amboinense exist in the world today’

The indefatigable fellow refused to see his life’s work lost. With the help of his surviving daughters, he was able to start over from a copy retained by the Dutch governor, Johannes Camphuys, an amateur astronomer, who had personally reviewed the manuscript and ordered a copy made for safe keeping.

Finally, the completed manuscript was despatched and arrived safely in the Netherlands in 1696. The East India Company, however, decided that the information it contained was so commercially sensitive that it would be better not to publish it. Rumphius died in 1702, never having seen his work in print.

In 1704, the Company lifted the embargo and the six volume Herbarium Amboinense was eventually published in 1741, 39 years after Rumphius' death, in a Latin translation by Johannes Burman (1707–79).

Rumphius’ work covers 1,200 species, 930 with definite species names, and another 140 identified to genus level. It also provides illustrations and descriptions for nomenclature types for 350 plants. Among the many species described is the Upas or ‘Poison Tree’ (Antiaris toxicaria), which was notorious for its toxic latex, apparently causing blindness and even death. Another species was the ‘Horseradish Tree’ (Moringa oleifera), the source of ‘ben oil’, which was used as a lubricant in watches and clocks. Other important economic trees described included the Clove, Starfruit and Durian. Rumphius was also the first European to discover the function of the pitchers in pitcher plants and that mosquitoes bred in their pools.

The Herbarium Amboinense provided the basis for all future study of the flora of the Moluccas and contributed to the development of Linnaeus’s botanical classification system. Rumphius’ work is still referred to today.

It is estimated that less than 30 complete sets of Herbarium Amboinense exist in the world today, with one complete set recently advertised for approximately US$30,000. One of those complete sets sits among the Daniel Solander Library’s collection of rare books, alongside a modern English translation. All of the Library’s six volumes are in excellent condition, with beautiful images and clear text with little or no foxing.

Like many of the early works acquired during Charles Moore’s directorship (1848 –1896), it is unclear exactly how or when it came into the Gardens’ possession. Evidence suggests, however, that it was part of the deceased estate of the famous British botanist Aylmer Bourke Lambert, whose signature can be found on the front endpaper of the first volume.

Foundation & Friends’ members are welcome to visit the Library to view the Herbarium Amboinense. Contact the office if you would like to arrange a viewing.