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Difference between revisions of "Jane Colden"

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==History==
 
==History==
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Born in New York City, Jane Colden was four years old when her family moved to Coldengham, a 3,000-acre farm established by her father, [[Cadwallader Colden]], in a wilderness area eight miles west of Newburgh. Her mother, Alice Chrystie Colden (  ), was a keen gardener and the most likely source of Jane's interest in horticulture.<ref>Jane Colden to Alice Chrystie Colden, September 2, 1753, in Colden, 1937, 9: 126-27; Alexander Colden to Cadwallader Colden, May 8, 1756, in Colden, 1923, 5: 72; Berkeley, Alexander Garden, 43, .</ref> From her father, who had begun the first scientific documentation of New York flora in the 1730s (a project curtailed by his increasing governmental responsibilities), Jane learned [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus's]] system of botanical classification. Convinced that women were better suited to enjoy botany than men (because of “their natural curiosity & the pleasure they take in the beauty and variety of dress”) and that it was only the arcane manner of scientific writing that put them off botanical pursuits, he provided her with an easily accessible introduction to [[Carl Linneaus|Linnaeus’s]] system by translating Latin into English, and substituting commonly used words for technical jargon.<ref> Cadwallader Colden to Johann Friedrich Gronovius, October 1, 1755 in Colden, 1923, 5: 29-31, </ref> Jane Colden continued the work abandoned by her father, searching for plants at Coldengham and describing them in Linnaean terms, but composing her texts in English. She most likely began this project soon after recovering from a grave illness of several months’ duration in 1751,<ref> Colden, 1921, 4: 228, 229, 237, 239, 242, 263 </ref> and was well advanced by September 1753, when [[Peter Collinson]] wrote to congratulate [[Cadwallader Colden]] on his “Daughter[s] Likeing to Botany.” <ref>He added, “It is a Delightfull amusement & a pretty accomplishment for a young Lady, for after the knowledge of plants, it may Lead her to Discover their Virtues & uses.” Peter Collinson to Cadwallader Colden, September 1, 1753, Collinson and Armstrong, 2002: 1730, </ref> Later that autumn, [[John Bartram]] wrote [[Peter Collinson|Collinson]] that while exploring the Catskill region, he and his son [[William Bartram|William]] had gathered seeds at Coldengham (where he had been a frequent visitor since 1742), and spent the evening look[ing] over some of ye Dr[‘s] daughter[s] botanical curious observations.”<ref>Bartram , 1992, 360,</ref> Jane later wrote at least one letter to [[John Bartram]], sending him some of her Linnean descriptions, together with a list of seeds she wished to order from his [[Bartram Nursery and Botanical Garden|nursery]] for cultivation at Coldengham.<ref>“I should be extreamly glad to see thee at my house & to shew thee my garden,” [[John Bartram|Bartram]] replied, assuring her that he would preserve her letter with those of his “choicest correspondents, ye European[s].” John Bartram to Jane Colden, January 24, 1757, Colden, 1992, 413-14.</ref> Some were native to climates similar to New York’s, but Bartram worried that the amorpha she request, though a beautiful flower, would perish in New York’s cold winters.  
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Born in New York City, Jane Colden was four years old when her family moved to Coldengham, a 3,000-acre farm established by her father, [[Cadwallader Colden]], in a wilderness area eight miles west of Newburgh. Her mother, Alice Chrystie Colden (  ), was a keen gardener and the most likely source of Jane's interest in horticulture.<ref>Jane Colden to Alice Chrystie Colden, September 2, 1753, in Colden, 1937, 9: 126-27; Alexander Colden to Cadwallader Colden, May 8, 1756, in Colden, 1923, 5: 72; Berkeley, Alexander Garden, 43, .</ref> From her father, who had begun the first scientific documentation of New York flora in the 1730s (a project curtailed by his increasing governmental responsibilities), Jane learned [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus's]] system of botanical classification. Convinced that women were better suited to excel at botany than men (because of “their natural curiosity & the pleasure they take in the beauty and variety of dress”) and that it was only the arcane manner of scientific writing that put them off botanical pursuits, he provided her with an easily accessible introduction to [[Carl Linneaus|Linnaeus’s]] system by translating Latin into English, and substituting commonly used words for technical jargon.<ref> Cadwallader Colden to Johann Friedrich Gronovius, October 1, 1755 in Colden, 1923, 5: 29-31, </ref> Jane Colden continued the work abandoned by her father, searching for plants at Coldengham and describing them in Linnaean terms, but composing her texts in English. She most likely began this project soon after recovering from a grave illness of several months’ duration in 1751,<ref> Colden, 1921, 4: 228, 229, 237, 239, 242, 263 </ref> and was well advanced by September 1753, when [[Peter Collinson]] wrote to congratulate [[Cadwallader Colden]] on his “Daughter[s] Likeing to Botany.” <ref>He added, “It is a Delightfull amusement & a pretty accomplishment for a young Lady, for after the knowledge of plants, it may Lead her to Discover their Virtues & uses.” Peter Collinson to Cadwallader Colden, September 1, 1753, Collinson and Armstrong, 2002: 1730, </ref> Later that autumn, [[John Bartram]] wrote [[Peter Collinson|Collinson]] that while exploring the Catskill region, he and his son [[William Bartram|William]] had gathered seeds at Coldengham (where he had been a frequent visitor since 1742), and spent the evening look[ing] over some of ye Dr[‘s] daughter[s] botanical curious observations.”<ref>Bartram , 1992, 360,</ref> Jane later wrote at least one letter to [[John Bartram]], sending him some of her Linnean descriptions, together with a list of seeds she wished to order from his [[Bartram Nursery and Botanical Garden|nursery]] for cultivation at Coldengham.<ref>“I should be extreamly glad to see thee at my house & to shew thee my garden,” [[John Bartram|Bartram]] replied, assuring her that he would preserve her letter with those of his “choicest correspondents, ye European[s].” John Bartram to Jane Colden, January 24, 1757, Colden, 1992, 413-14.</ref> Some were native to climates similar to New York’s, but Bartram worried that the amorpha she request, though a beautiful flower, would perish in New York’s cold winters.  
  
 
Colden was already experimenting with the cultivation of semi-tropical plants from South Carolina obtained through correspondence with [[Alexander Garden]], a botanical enthusiast in Charleston whose visit to Coldengham during the summer of 1754 had coincided with one of [[John Bartram|Bartram’s]]. In addition to “Persian seeds” obtained from a Russian physician, he sent her the seeds of plants native to Charleston, including umbrella tree (Magnolia tripetala), yellow jessamy, and horse chestnut (Aesculus pavia var. pavia). He also instructed her in the preservation of butterflies, and wrote [[Cadwallader Colden]] that he would “be greatly obliged to you[r] Da[ugh]t[er] for any seeds or Insects that she can pick up.”<ref>Alexander Garden to Cadwallader Colden, February 18, 1755, and April 15, 1757, Colden, 1923, 5: 5, 142; see also 5: 11; Gray, 1843, 51. </ref> In exchange, she sent [[Alexander Garden|Garden]] northern specimens, including the seeds and description of an Arbutus which she took to be a new genus (though he disagreed).<ref> Colden, 1923, 5: 41,  91-92, 114-16; see also 5: 227.</ref> While at Coldengham, [[Alexander Garden|Garden]] had studied and admired Colden’s Linnean descriptions. Observing what he took to be a new plant on his return trip south, he penned a Linnean description and sent it to Colden&mdash;only to learn that she had already discovered and documented the same plant a year earlier. Exercising her right as discoverer, she sought to name it ''Gardenia'' in [[Alexander Garden|Garden’s]] honor, but was overruled. [[Alexander Garden|Garden]] publicized the discovery by sending her description to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh for publication, and informing [[Carl Linneaus|Linneaus]] of the find.<ref>Alexander Garden to Carl Linnaeus, January 13, 1756 in Smith, 1821, 366-67.  Colden’s and Garden’s descriptions, see “ “ in  Essays and Observations (1756), 2: 1-2; see also Colden, 1923, 5: 10, 39; Britten, 27. The plant is known variously as of the plant (‘’Hypericum virginicum’’), </ref>  
 
Colden was already experimenting with the cultivation of semi-tropical plants from South Carolina obtained through correspondence with [[Alexander Garden]], a botanical enthusiast in Charleston whose visit to Coldengham during the summer of 1754 had coincided with one of [[John Bartram|Bartram’s]]. In addition to “Persian seeds” obtained from a Russian physician, he sent her the seeds of plants native to Charleston, including umbrella tree (Magnolia tripetala), yellow jessamy, and horse chestnut (Aesculus pavia var. pavia). He also instructed her in the preservation of butterflies, and wrote [[Cadwallader Colden]] that he would “be greatly obliged to you[r] Da[ugh]t[er] for any seeds or Insects that she can pick up.”<ref>Alexander Garden to Cadwallader Colden, February 18, 1755, and April 15, 1757, Colden, 1923, 5: 5, 142; see also 5: 11; Gray, 1843, 51. </ref> In exchange, she sent [[Alexander Garden|Garden]] northern specimens, including the seeds and description of an Arbutus which she took to be a new genus (though he disagreed).<ref> Colden, 1923, 5: 41,  91-92, 114-16; see also 5: 227.</ref> While at Coldengham, [[Alexander Garden|Garden]] had studied and admired Colden’s Linnean descriptions. Observing what he took to be a new plant on his return trip south, he penned a Linnean description and sent it to Colden&mdash;only to learn that she had already discovered and documented the same plant a year earlier. Exercising her right as discoverer, she sought to name it ''Gardenia'' in [[Alexander Garden|Garden’s]] honor, but was overruled. [[Alexander Garden|Garden]] publicized the discovery by sending her description to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh for publication, and informing [[Carl Linneaus|Linneaus]] of the find.<ref>Alexander Garden to Carl Linnaeus, January 13, 1756 in Smith, 1821, 366-67.  Colden’s and Garden’s descriptions, see “ “ in  Essays and Observations (1756), 2: 1-2; see also Colden, 1923, 5: 10, 39; Britten, 27. The plant is known variously as of the plant (‘’Hypericum virginicum’’), </ref>  

Revision as of 14:10, June 29, 2015

Jane Colden (March 27, 1724 – March 10, 1766) is considered the first woman botanist in America. Employing Linneas's new system of botanical classification, she documented over 300 plants native to the Catskill region of New York where she spend most of her life. The dissemination of Colden's detailed descriptions among European and American botanists led to increased knowledge of the plants of the New World.


History

Born in New York City, Jane Colden was four years old when her family moved to Coldengham, a 3,000-acre farm established by her father, Cadwallader Colden, in a wilderness area eight miles west of Newburgh. Her mother, Alice Chrystie Colden ( ), was a keen gardener and the most likely source of Jane's interest in horticulture.[1] From her father, who had begun the first scientific documentation of New York flora in the 1730s (a project curtailed by his increasing governmental responsibilities), Jane learned Linnaeus's system of botanical classification. Convinced that women were better suited to excel at botany than men (because of “their natural curiosity & the pleasure they take in the beauty and variety of dress”) and that it was only the arcane manner of scientific writing that put them off botanical pursuits, he provided her with an easily accessible introduction to Linnaeus’s system by translating Latin into English, and substituting commonly used words for technical jargon.[2] Jane Colden continued the work abandoned by her father, searching for plants at Coldengham and describing them in Linnaean terms, but composing her texts in English. She most likely began this project soon after recovering from a grave illness of several months’ duration in 1751,[3] and was well advanced by September 1753, when Peter Collinson wrote to congratulate Cadwallader Colden on his “Daughter[s] Likeing to Botany.” [4] Later that autumn, John Bartram wrote Collinson that while exploring the Catskill region, he and his son William had gathered seeds at Coldengham (where he had been a frequent visitor since 1742), and spent the evening look[ing] over some of ye Dr[‘s] daughter[s] botanical curious observations.”[5] Jane later wrote at least one letter to John Bartram, sending him some of her Linnean descriptions, together with a list of seeds she wished to order from his nursery for cultivation at Coldengham.[6] Some were native to climates similar to New York’s, but Bartram worried that the amorpha she request, though a beautiful flower, would perish in New York’s cold winters.

Colden was already experimenting with the cultivation of semi-tropical plants from South Carolina obtained through correspondence with Alexander Garden, a botanical enthusiast in Charleston whose visit to Coldengham during the summer of 1754 had coincided with one of Bartram’s. In addition to “Persian seeds” obtained from a Russian physician, he sent her the seeds of plants native to Charleston, including umbrella tree (Magnolia tripetala), yellow jessamy, and horse chestnut (Aesculus pavia var. pavia). He also instructed her in the preservation of butterflies, and wrote Cadwallader Colden that he would “be greatly obliged to you[r] Da[ugh]t[er] for any seeds or Insects that she can pick up.”[7] In exchange, she sent Garden northern specimens, including the seeds and description of an Arbutus which she took to be a new genus (though he disagreed).[8] While at Coldengham, Garden had studied and admired Colden’s Linnean descriptions. Observing what he took to be a new plant on his return trip south, he penned a Linnean description and sent it to Colden—only to learn that she had already discovered and documented the same plant a year earlier. Exercising her right as discoverer, she sought to name it Gardenia in Garden’s honor, but was overruled. Garden publicized the discovery by sending her description to the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh for publication, and informing Linneaus of the find.[9]


Daily access to thousands of acres of wilderness gave Colden a unique advantage as a botanist. Eager to encourage her efforts, her father assembled a botanical reference library, remarking in a letter to the British merchant Peter Collinson at “As she cannot have the opportunity of seeing plants in a Botanical Garden I think the next best is to see the best cuts or pictures of them.”[10] In addition to the books requested by Colden (Institutiones rei herbariae (1700) by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort and Plantarum Universalis Oxoniensis (1680-99) by Robert Morison), Collinson sent engravings by the renowned botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708–1770), “for your Ingenious Daughter to take Sketches of the fine Turn of the Leaves.” He also expressed his wish that William Bartram were nearby, for his drawings of plants “come the Nearest to Mr Ehrets” and “he would much assist her at first Setting out.” [11]

As an accompaniment to her verbal descriptions of plants, Colden created prints documenting the appearance of the leaves. According to her father, “She was shewn a method of takeing the impression of the leaves on paper with printers ink by a simple kind of rolling press which is of use in distinguishing the species by their leaves.” [12] Her father’s friend Benjamin Franklin and the printer Joseph Breintnall ( - ) had used the same technique in the 1730s while creating a comprehensive catalogue of species indigenous to Philadelphia from specimens collected for them by John Bartram. Following his visit to Coldengham in 1754,Alexander Garden sent a glowing account to the Dutch botanist Johann Friedrich Gronovius (1686-1762), observing that Jane Colden not only created “perfect images, by her own certain ingenious method, of the numerous plants kept by her father,” but also had sole responsibility for tending the garden’s rarest specimens.[13] Seven months later, Colden’s father sent Gronovius samples of her prints as well as several of her Linnean descriptions in English (“some of which I think are new Genus’s”), noting that she had compiled a "pretty large volume" documenting 300 plants and offering her services as a field botanist. “She has time to apply her self to gratify your curiosity more than I ever had,” he noted, adding: “She will be extremely pleased in being imployed by you either in sending descriptions or any seeds you shall desire or dryed Specimens of any particular plants you shall mention to me.”[14]

Only one of Jane Colden’s nature prints survives, part of a manuscript in which she listed 341 plants, documenting most of them with simple ink and wash drawings and English-language descriptions based on the Linnean system. She also noted the plants' medicinal uses, drawing on information gathered from conversations with Indians and settlers in the region. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content In 1782 this volume was in the possession of Friedrich Adam Julius von Wangenheim (1749-1800), a Hessian soldier and botanist who studied North American trees and shrubs while commanding a cavalry squadron in New York and Pennsylvania from 1778 to 1783.[15] Colden's manuscript later passed to the British botanist and plant collector Joseph Banks (1743-1820), and is now in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London.

In Jane’s “curiosity for natural phylosophy or natural History,” her father saw a means of providing her with meaningful work while advancing the abandoned botanical investigations that his European correspondents frequently appealed to him to resume.[16] Colden married Dr. William Farquhar in 1759 and from complications of childbirth in 1766.

--Robyn Asleson

Texts

"I am pleased to hear your Daughters Likeing to Botany. It is a Delightfull amusement & a pretty accomplishment for a young Lady, for after the knowledge of plants, it may Lead her to Discover their Virtues & uses."


  • Colden, Jane, September 2, 1753, letter from New York City to her mother Alice Chrystie Colden at Coldengham (1937: 9: 126-27) [18]
"I am very glad you have had Company that have diverted you, & that you have been imploy'd in improving your Garden, as I know the pleasure you take in it... Mrs. Nicholls has promised me some Tuby [torn] Roots & I shall beg her for some, others kinds & [torn] Seeds..


“I and Billy...reached Dr Colden’s by noon. Got our dinner, and set out to gather seeds, and did not get back till two hours within night; then looked over of ye Dr['s] daughter[']s botanical curious observations.”


  • Alice Colden Willett, June 25, 1754, letter from Harisons Purchase to her sister, Katharine Colden at Coldengham (Colden: 1937: 9: 137-38) [20]
"We was to have a frolick next day of fish & Lobsters, about four miles from hence.... I wish Cate you had been with us, for we had pure divirsion, and you woud have seen Rural sports quite in the Natural way.... I shoud give you a description of the place, it is calld the majours neck Surrounded with meadows on one side, and the other a prospect of the Ocian the ground so level that we dancd Minuates and Contry dances and so fine a shade of pine Trees, that we never need put on our hats. The first thing we did after we got to the place, was to prepare dinner of fine black fish and Lobsters... We then sat down upon the green grass, and din'd most daintely, musick playing all the time, after this we had several dances, by this time it was neer Sun sat, and we all prepard for returning home, but was stopt by the way by the Majour, who had been with us all day and give all the company a hearty invitation to his seat, where we was intertaind with wine and punch in great plenty, the Majour himself as gay as any young man, and niver stopt from dancing for several hours together, pray tell Sister Jenny [Jane Colden] that I wish she coud have seen him, I assure her he appeard to much greater advantage in his own house than he did when she saw him here. I really believe that the sight of her, over came him so, that he knew not what he did, poor man I pity him, and wish that some clever Lady woud [torn] for he has a pleasant place and a good h[ou]se and also a pretty fountain, so that there seems nothing wanting but a Mistress to take care of it, but me thinks I hear you say what a deal you write about Miss Jennys admirer, and tell me not a word of my own."


“I shall be glad to hear of Miss Colden’s improvements, which no doubt increase every day,—and may we again be surprised with more than a Dacier, even in America.”


"I have had severall Letters from Europe & a pretty parcell of Seeds from Russia from Dr Mounsey cheif Physician to the Army & Physician to the Prince Royal of Russia they are mostly Persian seeds I have sent a few to Miss Colden.... I mentioned to Miss Colden that the Small Bags of Shells something like Hops that she has are the reall Matrices of the Buccinum ampullatum of Dr Lister.... I shall in my next mention to Miss Colden the method of preserving Butterflies &c."


"I had not been there [in New York] many days before I was informed of that great philosopher and learned botanist, the Hon. Cadwallader Colden, Esq. so well known in the learned world both by his botanical and philosophical works. His botanical performances are published in the Acta Upsaliensia by Linnaeus. Not only the doctor himself is a great botanist, but his lovely daughter is greatly master of the Linnaean method, and cultivates it with great assiduity. It was here that I first saw Linnaeus's Genera Plantarum and his Critica Botanica."


"It gives me great pleasure that you give me leave to send Miss Colden's Description of that new plant to any of my Correspondents[,] as I had before sent it to Dr Whytt at Edinburgh— By your second letter I find that I have very innocently offended Both you & Miss Colden by some expressions that insensibly dropt from my pen as archetypes of what my heart dictated in was on sincerity. This gives me real concern & give me leave to assure you I shall endeavour as far as in my power to amend any thing in my conduct or manner of writing that you are kind enough to point out as wrong. I trust that Both you & your Daughter will forgive me for once, I shall be more sparing in saying what I think is due to such merit for the future— The Expression which you say gave her most offence, gives me now a great deal of uneasiness as I suspect it has deprived me of the pleasure of a letter from her by last opportunity. Your observations on the Sexes are very good but these & such Experiments dont seem to convince my old Master, who quotes some carefully made experiments on the Contrary side— you'll read the paper w[i]t[h] little pleasure & less satisfaction when it falls in your way[.] I think none of his Experiments are at all conclusive—

"Its now passed the Season of Seeds but I'll endeavour to procure Such as Miss Colden may want this year, tho my present Business confines me much to Town. I have not had an hour to spend in the woods this 2 months which makes me turn rusty in Botany."


"I thought that Botany is an Amusement which may be made agreable for the Ladies who are often at a loss to fill up their time if it could be made agreable to them[.] Their natural curiosity & the pleasure they take in the beauty & variety of dress seems to fit them for it[.] The chief reason that few or none of them have hitherto applied themselves to this study I believe is because all the books of any value are wrote in Latin & so filled with technical words that the obtaining the necessary previous knowlege is so tiresome & disagreable that they are discouraged at the first setting out & give it over before they can receive any pleasure in the pursuit.

"I have a daughter who has an inclination to reading & a curiosity for natural phylosophy or natural History & a sufficient capacity for attaining a competent nowlege[.] I took the pains to explain Linnaeus's system & to put it in English for her use by fre[e]ing it from the Technical terms which was easily don[e] by useing two or three words in place of one[.] She is now grown very fond of the study and has made such progress in it as I believe would please you if you saw her performance[.]e Tho' perhaps she could not have been persuaded to learn the terms at first[,] she now understands in some degree Linnaeus's characters notwithstanding that she does not understand Latin[.] She has allready a pretty large volume in writing of the Description of plants. She was shewn a method of takeing the impression of the leaves on paper with printers ink by a simple kind of rolling press which is of use in distinguishing the species by their leaves. No description in words alone can give so clear an idea as when the description is assisted with a picture She has the impression of 300 plants in the manner you'l[l] see by the sample sent you[.] That you may have some conception of her performance & her manner of describing I propose to inclose some samples in her own writting some of which I think are new Genus's. One is of the anax foliis ternis ternatis in the Flora Virg. I never had seen the fruit of it till she discover'd it[.] The fruit is ripe in the beginning of June & the plant dies immediately after the fruit is ripe & no longer to be seen. Two more I have not found described any where & in the others you will find some things particular which I think are not taken notice of by any author I have seen[.] If you think S[i]r that she can be of any use to you she will be extremely pleased in being imployed by you either in sending descriptions or any seeds you shall desire or dryed Specimens of any particular plants you shall mention to me[.] She has time to apply her self to gratify your curiosity more than I ever had & now when I have time the infirmities of age disable me."


"I shall [...] send you a Sample of my daughter Jenny's performances in Botany. As it is not usual for woemen to take pleasure in Botany as a Science I shall do what I can to incourage her in this amusement which fills up her idle hours to much better purpose that the usual amusements eagerly pursued by others of her sex[.] As she cannot have the opportunity of seeing plants in a Botanical Garden I think the next best is to see the best cuts or pictures of them[,] for which purpose I would buy for her Tourneforts Institutes & Morison's Historia plantarum, or if you know any better books for this purpose[,] as you are a better judge than I am[,] I will be obliged to you in making the choice[.] If Mr Calm's [sic] Observations in America be published pray send it to me or any thing else which is new & you like on that subject. At the bottom I shall annex a list of some things & other books I must desire the favour of you to send to me....
Ainsworth's Latin & English Dictionary
Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary
Tournfort Institutiones herbarise
Morison's Historia Plantarum
Fred. Hoffman Opera omnia


"In the bundle with the papers I have mentioned there are some descriptions of plants by my daughter Jane which I designed to have sent by a ship from hence to .... I am pleased that they go to you that you may perceive how far she deserves incouragement in giving such an example to others of her sex & please to convey them with my letter to Dr Gronovius when you have a proper opportunity."


"Your most obliging fav[o]r of the first of Octo[be]r last now lyes before me, which came very safe to hand by Schermerhorn as Did the Papers & seeds which your Daughter was kind enough to honour me w[i]t[h] by his former trip. "


  • Garden, Alexander, 1756, "The Description of a new Plant," (Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary, 2, 1-2)Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; refs with no name must have content
"Doctor Garden writes Doctor Whytt, that, in Summer 1754, he met, about a mile from the town of New York in New England, with a plant; which, at first, he took to be a hypericum, but, on examining it, found it different: upon which he took down its characters, and sent them, some days after, to Miss Jenny Colden (daughter to the Honourable Cadwallader Colden), a very ingenious young Lady and curious Botanist. In return to this, Miss Colden sent Dr. Garden the characters of a plant which proves to be the same: it is No. 153. of her collection; and was first found by her, Summer 1753. Using the privilege of first discoverer, she was pleased to call this new plant Gardenia, in compliment to Dr. Garden.


"By a letter from Dr. Whytt, I learn that they have published the characters of a plant which I had sent me by Miss Colden, which she had called Gardenia. I had met with the same plant some time before I received her letter, and finding it differ from the Hypericums (of which at first it seemed to be a species), I took its characters, and not many days after I received her letter, when I was at Philadelphia. I sent both her characters and my own, which I had made before, to Dr. Whytt, with some other things, and the Doctor thought them worth a place in your essays."


"Our Friend Colden[']s Daughter Has in a Scientificall Manner Sent over Several sheets of plants very Curiously Anatomised after his Method[...] I believe she is the first Lady that has Attempted any thing of this Nature [...] they are to be sent to Dr Gronovius.


"I... wish you had left her [Jane's sister Caty] in Town[.] My Mother & Sister Jenny I know will divert themselves in the Garden [at Coldengham] but as Caty takes no delight that way nor any other amusement to divert her thoughts she will in all probability be continually ruminating on the danger you may be in & I am afraid will from the uneasiness of her mind get quite low spirited & fall into a bad state of health."


"I but lately Heard from Mr Colden. He is well, but what is Marvelous, his Daughter is perhaps the First Lady that has so perfectly Studied your system. She Deserves to be Celebrated."


"I remember that Miss Colden sent me the Seed of an Arbutus which she took to be a new Genus I imagine it is the Epigaea of Linnaeus's new Genera or the Arbutus foliis ovalis integris, petiolis laxis longitudine foliorani of Gron. Flor. Virg. p. 49 Please compare them & let me know.

"You may likewise compare it with the Anonyma pedunculis armatis of the Flor. Coldengham. No. 98 or p. 98 Linnaeus calls this Gualtheria in his Genera nova & Quotes Peter Kalm for the first Discoverer, which I think is injurious to you who he quotes just in the next line & certainly you sent it over long before Kalm came from Sweden."


"Its now about 6 weeks since I had yours of the 19th of May last; by what chance it happened to be so long of coming I know not, but I can assure you, that a Line from you or Miss Colden very sensibly affects me....

"I have little new but the late Edition of Linnaeus's Genera Plantarum in which there is 1105 Genera so that we have many new Genera, amongst which are all Mr Kalm's & other's new Genera & some usefull emendations of the old ones with aditions[.]

"There is one Called the Gualtheria by Kalm which I take to be the new Plant of which Miss Colden sent me the seed last Spring—Its a kind of red berry within a red Berry, the seed is contained in the inner—Seeds are Small—You told me (when I had the pleasure to be with you) that you once imagined it akin to the arbutus, but you marked it incerti generis amongst the seeds —John Bartram calls it Jersey tea— I have inclosed Linnaeus's Characters, that you may compare them & let me know your opinion."


“I received thine of October ye 26th 1756 & read it several times with agreeable satisfaction indeed I am very carefull of it & it keeps company with ye choicest correspondents, ye European letters[.] ye viney plant thee so well describes I take to be ye dioscoria of hill & Gronovius tho I never searched ye characters of ye flower so curiously as I find thee hath done. I should be extreamly glad to see thee at my house & to shew thee my garden.

"I have several kinds of ye Cockleat or snail trefoil & trigonels [415] or fenugreck but being annual plants they are gone off[.] ye species of persicary thee mentions.... Ye amorpha is A beautiful flower but whether wont your cold winters kill it[.] if ye Rhubarb from London be ye Siberian I have it I had ye perennial flax from rusia Livonia[.] it growed 4 foot high & I dont know but 50 stalks from A root but ye flax was very rotten & course[.] Ye flowers large & blew[.] it lived many years & died[.] neither what you will want this [.] I am quite at A loss what seeds to gather & what quantity to preserve.


"I wrote to you last Night by the Albany Post in answer to yours which I was agreably Surprized with receiving by Post & Inclosed you and Sister Jane each a letter from Doctr Garden. Some seeds he Sent I kept to go by Watter or some Surer Conveyance then by Post."


"I have att last been So luckky to gett you a fine Tournforts Herbal & his History of Plants via Martin in Excellent preservation to which have added the 2 Vol. of Edinburgh Essays for the Sake of the Curious Botanic Desertation of your Ingenious Daughter. Being the Only Lady that I have yett heard off [sic] that is a proffessor the Linnaean System of which He is not a Little proud."


"Its now so long since I had the honour of hearing from you or from Miss Colden that I'm entirely at Loss to what to attribute it to. Conveyances indeed are uncertain, but I have wrote severall times both by Sea & By Post both to Your Daughter & You that I scarce can imagine but that some of them must have come to hand. Let me Beg You'll be so kind as releive my present uneasiness....

"Did Miss Colden receive the Seeds which I sent; they were the following The Chionanthus or Fringetree. 2d The Hop-tree a new genus—3 Yellow Jessamy 4 Campellia a most beautifull flowring shrub—yucca foliis filamentosis—Pavia or scarlet Horsechesnut— Umbrella tree or the Magnolia foliis Amplissimis flore ingenti Candidi....

"I will be greatly obliged to you [sic] Da[ugh]t[er] for for any seeds or Insects that she can pick up, very soon I'll write her at great Length."


"I have in Mrs Alexanders Trunk Sent you the Herbals you wanted and putt in 2 or 3 of Erhetts Plants, for your Ingenious Daughter to take Sketches of the fine Turn of the Leaves &c. & Lin: Genera.

"I wish your fair Daug[hte]r was Near Wm Bartram he would much assist her at first Setting out. Johns Son a very Ingenious Ladd who without any Instructor has not only attained to the Drawing of Plants & Birds, but He paints them in their Natural Colours So Elegantly So Masterly that the best Judges Here think they come the Nearest to Mr Ehrets, of any they have Seen[.] it is a fine amusement for her[;] the More She practices the more She Will Improve, by another Ship, I will Send Some more prints but as they are Liable to be taken I Send a few at a Time."


"For this reason [the medicinal use of newly discovered plants] I send you the Description & figure of a Plant don[e] by my Daughter Jenny which I think has not been before described & likewise makes a New Genus. Perhaps it may be in the new Edition of Linnaeus's Characters I have not as yet seen that Edition but if it be there is no figure of it in that book & it may be of use to have the description of a new plant by different hands.

"When I removed my family into the country & thereby my children were deprived of all those amusements in which young people take delight I thought the putting them at some research[,] which would fix their attention & at the same time please their fancy[,] might remove that disgust to their present situation which I apprehended otherwise could not be avoided. For that purpose I put an explication of the principles of Botany in writing into my daughter Jenny's hands[,] don[e] in such manner as I thought would excite her curiosity[,] & afterwards translated Linnaeus's method[,] but in some parts altered to make it the more easy for her[,] avoiding all the terms of art through the whole & makeing use of common english expressions[.] She eagerly swallow'd the bait & you cannot imagine with what pleasure she has passed many an hour which otherwise might have been very dull & heavy[.] She has described between 3 & 400 American plants in the manner this is don[e] & of late has begun to draw figures of the plants which she thinks have not been allready well described. When it is considered that she has no instructor in drawing[,] has few or no good copies & was only shewn how to use china ink with a pencil you will easily pardon where she has failed in the art & yet allow her some genius for that kind of drawing. After she had advanced a little in the knowledge of plants her fondness for the amusement made her acquire some Knowledge of botanic latin tho' she does not otherwise understand anything of the language.

"Perhaps from her example young ladies in a like situation may find an agreable way to fill up some part of time which otherwise may be heavy on their hand[,] May amuse & please themselves & at the same time be usefull to others."


"In my former I told you that No. 18, 19, 36 & 37 of the Brittish Herbal of Dr Hill by mistake were not sent & desired you to send the new Edition of Linnaeus's Genera et Characteres plantarum & his Species plantarum if not too dear.... My daughter Jenny makes great Progress in Botany[.] She delights in it."


"The characters I made of the plants I was sensible were very imperfect not only from the want of sufficient knowledge in botany but from my not having sufficient opportunity to repeat my examinations of the plants which I only met casually & did not see many of them more than once. Soon after this I was so much engaged in public business that I was obliged to lay aside my botanical researches.

"I was exceedingly pleased that soon after that time my daughter Jane took an inclination to Botany after I had explained the principles of it to her in familiar language. She now fills up a good deal of idle time agreably to her self & as she is more curious & accurate than I could have been[,] her descriptions are more perfect & I believe few or none exceed them. As her fondness for this study grew upon her She attempted likewise drawings of the plants & considering that she had no instructor the proficiency she has made & the justness of her figures surprise those who have seen them. Last summer she sent a drawing of the Filipendula foliis ternis of Gronovius or the Virginian Ipecocuana to Dr Garden but we know not whether it is come to his hand. She observed that the seeds of this plant are contained in Capsule & for that reason she thought that it makes a distinct Genus from the Filipendula. I shall desire her to subjoin to this paper a Description of that Species of the Lobelia [torn] above mentioned for the cure of the lui[?] venera. The differences in the cup or empalement as well as the colour of the flower makes it a distinct species from that with Scarlet flowers commonly called the Cardinal flower."


"I was unlucky enough never to receive your Letter which you mention of the 23d of June last year, neither that of Miss Colden's with the seeds & Filupendula, the loss of all which I greatly Lament."


"Mr. Colden of New York has sent Dr. Fothergill a new plant described by his daughter; I shall send you the characters as near as I can translate them. It is called Fibraurea, Gold thread, and Mr. Collinson received from J. Bartram of Philadelphia another, which he calls Yellow root, which I have likewise put into your method.

"Fibraurea, or Gold thread, from Miss Colden of New York....

"This young lady merits your esteem, and does honor to your System. She has drawn and described 400 plants in your method only: she uses English terms. Her father has a plant called after him Coldenia, suppose you should call this [Helleborus trifolius Linn.] Coldenella or any other name that might distinguish her among you Genera."


“Last week my friend Mr. Ellis, wrote you a letter, recommending a curious botanic dissertation, by Miss Jane Colden. As this accomplished lady is the only one of the fair sex that I have heard of, who is scientifically skilful in the Linnaean system, you, no doubt, will distinguish her merits, and recommend her example to the ladies of every country.”


"You have plainly shewed me, that the Fibraurea of Miss Colden is already described. I shall let her know what civil things you say of her— her Christian Name is Jane."


  • Rutherfurd, Walter, c. autumn 1758, letter describing a visit to Coldengham (Rutherfurd, 1894: 13) [45]
"At one of our landings we made an excursion to Coldenham [sic] the abode of the venerable Philosopher Colden, as gay and facetious in his conversation as serious and solid in his writings. From the middle of the Woods this Family corresponds with all the learned societies in Europe…. His daughter Jenny is a Florist and Botanist, she has discovered a great number of Plants never before described and has given their Properties and Virtues, many of which are found useful in Medicine, and she draws and colours them with great beauty. Dr. Whyte of Edinburgh is in the number of her correspondents. N.B. She makes the best cheese I ever ate in America."


"Doctor Alston to whom I shewed your letter desires his respectfull compliments may be transmitted to your Daughter & you : he received Miss Coldens letter & says he would have wrote her before now but had nothing to offer which he thought worth giving her the trouble of a letter."


"Pray give Mr Ellis's & my Respects to Miss Jenny all that Wee have done, & said, is Due to Her Wee hope to See more of her Works."


"My Confinement In town is so close that I have no Botanical Rambles now so can write you of nothing new in that way, but will be glad to have something from you or from Miss Colden whom I'm told is nearly on the matrimonial shore. May that happiness & joy attend her which my warmest & sincerest wishes send her & that her merit & Accomplishments claim. My hearty congratulations attend you & your family on this occasion & beg they may likewise be offered in my name to my good freind Dr Farqhuar in whose judicious choice & future happiness I will equally rejoice. ... I had almost forgot to tell you that I lately received a Copy of the Hortus Cliffortianus the most superb & Elegant Book that ever I saw."


  • Whytt, Robert, October 20, 1760, letter from Edinburgh to Cadwallader Colden (1923: 5: 356) [49]
"It gives me particular pleasure to hear of your Daughter Miss Jennys being happily Married. Doctor Alston desires to Join with me in Compliments to her. He thinks, altho he had not had a wife, that Miss Colden has Judged well in preferring Dr Farquhar to one of 76 years of age."

Images


References

Jane Colden manuscript in the Natural History Museum, London

Jane Colden's plants in the field


Notes

  1. ↑ Jane Colden to Alice Chrystie Colden, September 2, 1753, in Colden, 1937, 9: 126-27; Alexander Colden to Cadwallader Colden, May 8, 1756, in Colden, 1923, 5: 72; Berkeley, Alexander Garden, 43, .
  2. ↑ Cadwallader Colden to Johann Friedrich Gronovius, October 1, 1755 in Colden, 1923, 5: 29-31,
  3. ↑ Colden, 1921, 4: 228, 229, 237, 239, 242, 263
  4. ↑ He added, “It is a Delightfull amusement & a pretty accomplishment for a young Lady, for after the knowledge of plants, it may Lead her to Discover their Virtues & uses.” Peter Collinson to Cadwallader Colden, September 1, 1753, Collinson and Armstrong, 2002: 1730,
  5. ↑ Bartram , 1992, 360,
  6. ↑ “I should be extreamly glad to see thee at my house & to shew thee my garden,” Bartram replied, assuring her that he would preserve her letter with those of his “choicest correspondents, ye European[s].” John Bartram to Jane Colden, January 24, 1757, Colden, 1992, 413-14.
  7. ↑ Alexander Garden to Cadwallader Colden, February 18, 1755, and April 15, 1757, Colden, 1923, 5: 5, 142; see also 5: 11; Gray, 1843, 51.
  8. ↑ Colden, 1923, 5: 41, 91-92, 114-16; see also 5: 227.
  9. ↑ Alexander Garden to Carl Linnaeus, January 13, 1756 in Smith, 1821, 366-67. Colden’s and Garden’s descriptions, see “ “ in Essays and Observations (1756), 2: 1-2; see also Colden, 1923, 5: 10, 39; Britten, 27. The plant is known variously as of the plant (‘’Hypericum virginicum’’),
  10. ↑ Among the books Colden ordered from Collinson for his daughter’s use were Institutiones rei herbariae (1700) by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort and Plantarum Universalis Oxoniensis (1680-99) by Robert Morison. Although it was chiefly the illustrations he wished her to consult, he also ordered Robert Ainsworth’s Latin and English dictionary, presumably so that she could decipher something of the text, although she knew no Latin. See Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, n.d. [October 1755?], in Colden, 1923, 5: 37-38; see also 5: 139.
  11. ↑ Peter Collinson to Cadwallader Colden, October 5, 1757, Colden, 1923, 5: 190,
  12. ↑ Cadwallader Colden to Johann Friedrich Gronovius, Colden, 1923, 5: 29-30,
  13. ↑ Alexander Garden to Johann Friedrich Gronovius, March 15, 1755, quoted in Berkeley, Alexander Garden, 43,
  14. ↑ Cadwallader Colden to Johann Friedrich Gronovius, October 1, 1755 in Colden, 1923, 5: 30-31; see also 5: 139,
  15. ↑ For Wangenheim's efforts to promote the naturalization of North American species in Germany, particularly as director general of waters and forests of eastern Prussia, see Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, 6: 346; see also Britten, 25-26.
  16. ↑ Colden, 1923, 5: 29-30,
  17. ↑ Collinson and Armstrong, 2002,
  18. ↑ Colden, 1937,
  19. ↑ Bartram, 1992,
  20. ↑ Colden, 1937, 9,
  21. ↑ Gray, 1843,
  22. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  23. ↑ Smith, 1821: 1,
  24. ↑ Colden, 1923
  25. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  26. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  27. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  28. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  29. ↑ Smith, 1821,
  30. ↑ Bartram, 1992,
  31. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  32. ↑ Collinson and Armstrong, 2002
  33. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  34. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  35. ↑ Bartram, 1992,
  36. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  37. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  38. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  39. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  40. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  41. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  42. ↑ Smith, 1821
  43. ↑ Smith, 1821
  44. ↑ Smith, 1821,
  45. ↑ Rutherfurd, 1894,
  46. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  47. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  48. ↑ Colden, 1923,
  49. ↑ Colden, 1923,

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