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- Title
Zoological material for John Lawson's “Compleat History” of Carolina (1710–1711): specimens recorded in Hans Sloane's catalogues.
- Authors
Simpson Jr, Marcus B.; Simpson, Sallie W.; Johnston, David W.
- Abstract
As part of his plan for a “Compleat History” of the region, John Lawson, Surveyor-General of North Carolina, collected plants and animals in 1710 and 1711 from Virginia and North Carolina and shipped them to James Petiver in London. After Petiver's death in 1718, his collection was acquired by Hans Sloane and subsequently incorporated into the natural history collections in the British Museum. The Sloane herbarium, now at the Natural History Museum, London, contains more than 300 previously reported botanical specimens attributed to Lawson, but details of his zoological collecting have not heretofore been documented. Two of Sloane's manuscript catalogues of “Fossils” include at least 34 specimens that appear to have been among those sent by Lawson to Petiver. These Lawson specimens were probably discarded or destroyed by British Museum staff in the 1700s or early 1800s. The Sloane catalogues nevertheless provide evidence that Lawson had begun work on his ambitious plan for a natural history of Carolina. Lawson's untimely death in September 1711 brought an abrupt end to the project, and Petiver apparently never used the zoological material he received from Lawson.
- Subjects
NORTH Carolina; LAWSON, John; NATURAL history catalogs &; collections; COLLECTION &; preservation of plant specimens; MUSEUM acquisitions; PETIVER, James; SLOANE, Hans, Sir, 1660-1753; ZOOLOGISTS; NATURAL History Museum (London, England); ROYAL Society (Great Britain); ANTIQUITIES
- Publication
Archives of Natural History, 2010, Vol 37, Issue 2, p333
- ISSN
0260-9541
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3366/anh.2010.0014