Letters from an American botanist : the correspondences of Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Mühlenberg (1753-1815) / Matthias Schönhofer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schönhofer, Matthias, author.

Contributor:

Muhlenberg, Henry, 1753-1815.

Series:

Beiträge zur Europäischen Überseegeschichte ; 0522-6848 Bd. 101.

Geschichte (Franz Steiner Verlag)

Beiträge zur europäischen Überseegeschichte, 0522-6848 ; Band 101

Geschichte

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Muhlenberg, Henry, 1753-1815--Correspondence.

Muhlenberg, Henry.

Muhlenberg, Henry, 1753-1815.

Botanists--United States--Correspondence.

Botanists.

Botany.

United States.

Genre:

Correspondence.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

604 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag, [2014]

Summary:

The Lutheran Pastor Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg (1753-1815) is remembered today as one of the pioneering figures in early American botany, which earned him the posthumous epithet "The American Linnaeus". This study traces Mühlenberg's contributions to American botany by reconstructing his vast transatlantic correspondence network over a period of more than 30 years. Working on the tenets of modern network studies and with information gathered from close to 700 original letters, diaries and publications, the present study places Mühlenberg both within his own web of correspondences and within the botanical discourse of his time. The result is a multi-faceted depiction of contemporary standards, codes and pitfalls of scientific communication in the so-called "Republic of Letters". As Mühlenberg's example shows, the very fabric of this Republic - open exchange of information - had a strong impact on the course and outcome of scientific research itself. This "Network Factor" becomes clearly visible in Mühlenberg's networking strategies, which he developed to protect his original work against the negative effects of the very medium he was working with. Book jacket.

Contents:

I Introduction 11

II List of Abbreviations 15

III Networks and History 16

1 Network Theory Basics 17

2 Applications - Rosenthal et al., Gould and Bearman 25

3 A Critique 31

4 Aims and Methodology - The Plurality of Mühlenberg's Network 34

IV A Prelude - Mühlenberg's Correspondences from 1771 to 1784 45

1 The Lutheran Context 45

1.2 Studies at the Francke Foundations (1763-1770) 48

1.3 The Pennsylvania Field 53

1.4 Pious Trade in Halle Medicines I (before 1770) 57

1.5 Pious Trade in Halle Medicines II (after 1770) 61

1.6 Halle's Private Intermediaries 63

2 The Family Context 70

2.1 Family Life prior to the War of Independence 71

2.2 Brothers-in-Law 77

2.3 A Band of Brothers 81

2.4 The only Son 86

2.5 Conflict with Kunze 89

2.6 In the Wake of the War 93

3 The Scientific Context - the Respublica Litteraria 98

3.1 The Handmaiden of Medicine 102

3.2 American Botanical Fellows 104

3.3 Carl Linnaeus and America 108

3.4 Muhlenberg and Linnaeus 111

3.5 American Botany in the Early National Period (1775-1815) 115

3.6 The Challenges of Independence 116

V Letters from an American Botanist 122

1 Confederate Botany (Phase 1, 1784-1790) 122

1.1 A Franconian Physician at Lancaster - Schöpf 126

1.2 The Prince of Erlangen Science - Schreber 128

1.3 Commercium Litterarium with Schreber and Schöpf 131

1.4 The Hinterlands of Botanical Science 138

1.5 Franklin College and Botany 140

1.6 Old Trade along New Channels 148

1.7 Family and Friends 152

1.8 Network Analysis: Phase 1 154

2 Transatlantic Botany (Phase 2, 1790-1797) 158

2.1 The Philosopher of Kingsessing-William Bartram 165

2.2 More Gardeners and Seedsmen - the Marshalls and William Hamilton 171

2.3 Mühlenberg's Antagonist - Benjamin Smith Barton 174

2.4 Networks and Network Strategies 178

2.5 A Swabian in Lancaster-Autenrieth 183

2.6 Spinning the Web at the American Periphery 186

2.7 Moravians Botanists - Kramsch and Kampman 188

2.8 Cutler and the Gap in the North 192

2.9 Mitchill, New York and Agriculture 196

2.10 Erlangen falls behind 198

2.11 Hoffmann goes to Göttingen 201

2.12 Palm in Erlangen 204

2.13 Johann Hedwig's Cryptogamia 208

2.14 James Edward Smith - Linneaus' English Heir 211

2.15 Changes at the Orphanage 215

2.16 Yellow Fever and American Medicine 221

2.17 Network Analysis: Phase 2 228

3 A Network in Transition (Phase 3, 1797-1802) 233

3.1 The Failures of Smith, Schreber and Hoffmann 236

3.2 The Cryptogamic Circle I 243

3.3 Postbox Halle 254

3.4 Moravians on the Move 256

3.5 Dormant America 262

3.6 Network Analysis: Phase 3 264

4 Network Strategies (Phase 4, 1802-1805) 266

4.1 The South 273

4.2 Europeans in the American Wilderness I - Lyon and Pursh 280

4.3 Europeans in the American Wilderness II - Kin, Enslin and van der Schott 287

4.4 Europeans in the American Wilderness III - Rafinesque 292

4.5 The Cryptogamic Circle II 297

4.6 The Herbarium of André Michaux 301

4.7 Old Europe - Smith, Turner, Hoffmann, Schrader and Schreber 306

4.8 Network Strategies and Publications 312

4.9 The Halle Network 323

4.10 Changes in the Family 327

4.11 Network Analysis: Phase 4 329

5 An American Network (Phase 5, 1805 1811) 332

5.1 The Troubles of Erlangen and Halle 335

5.2 Nulla Salus Bello - Pacem te poscimus 340

5.3 France, England and Sweden 345

5.4 North and South-Peck, Elliott, Dunbar, Moore and Logan 355

5.5 Moravians in the South 372

5.6 The West Müller and the Planthunters 377

5.7 The Aftermath of the great Expeditions 383

5.8 The Failure of American Botany 390

5.9 Family Matters 399

5.10 Network Analysis: Phase 5 401

6 Towards Botanical Independence (Phase 6, 1811-1815) 403

6.1 Philadelphia and Western Pennsylvania 411

6.2 The patient and successful cultivator - Collins 418

6.3 The Southern Constellation Oemler, Dörry, Logan, Elliott and Baldwin 425

6.4 The Last of the Moravian Contacts - Schweinitz 441

6.5 Friends and Fraud in New York City 446

6.6 The North and the West - Cutler, Peck, Bigelow, Rich and Moore 453

6.7 The End of an Era 460

6.8 Ars longa, vita brevis 467

6.9 Network Analysis: Phase 6 469

VI Conclusion 472

VII Appendices 483

1 Appendix A - Flowcharts 486

2 Appendix B - Tables 494

3 Appendix C - Lists of Correspondences 535

4 Appendix D - Exchange Charts 550

5 Appendix E - Networks 554

6 Appendix F - Network Documentation 565

VII Bibliography 569

IX Register of Persons 585

X Register of Places 598.

Notes:

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Bamberg, 2012.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 565-584) and index.

ISBN:

9783515107969

3515107967

OCLC:

892843410

Publisher Number:

99960203151