THE CARL LINNAEUS NOTEBOOK 1725 - 1727; the first work ever written by the world famous naturalist. This is probably one of the most important works to help us understand the real Linnaeus.
The Swedish naturalist CARL LINNAEUS (1707-1778) was uniquely gifted in
the field of natural and cultural sciences and became world-famous for the system
of classification and the nomenclature that he developed which botanists and
zoologists use to this day.
The young Carl Linnaeus's life and sphere of thinking are relatively little
known to most people. It is therefore of great importance for the understanding
of Linnaeus' world – but also as an inspiration – that, in the learned series
MUNDUS LINNÆI, we are able to publish the very first known writing by him
when he was still in his late teens.
THE CARL LINNAEUS NOTEBOOK 1725 - 1727, now introduced in English
for the first time, is the oldest manuscript by the great naturalist. It was written
between the years 1725 and 1727 during his final years at Växjö old grammar
school, or Gymnasium, today called Växjö Katedralskola. Apart from being highly
valuable because of its age, the Notebook demonstrates the rapid development of
a remarkable teenager with a fascination for natural history and medicine, besides
which it foreshadows in many ways Linnaeus’s future work. It contains quotations
from more than 70 different learned works and reveals how fully he understood
that plants have gender, a characteristic not generally accepted at the time but
which would later come to be of great significance as he developed his system of
plant classification. In order to understand how, from very early on in his life, the
son of a clergyman in the province of Småland in southern Sweden could become
so deeply interested in natural history and, what is more, obtain advanced
literature to satisfy that interest, it is necessary to start from his very early years.
THREE VOLUMES IN A SOLANDER BOX - Only 500 numbered copies have been printed, in three Volumes.
THE FACSIMILE is a complete facsimile edition of the Notebook, including
handwritten text, sketches, drawings and tables. The format of the
Notebook is 100 x 150mm and it contains 169 pages. In their relatively
complicated approach, the notes reveal a mature young man with touches of
brilliance.
THE TRANSCRIPTION includes the complete transcription of the Notebook,
page for page, into English. Here the sometimes hard-to-read notes are
made accessible. Included is an extensive index with classified search
terms.
THE COMMENTS: the author/transcriber Torbjörn Lindell contributes his comments on
the texts in the Notebook. The young Linnaeus’ quotations from about 70
learned oeuvres are commented on, as are the reasons and the means by
which Linnaeus came to have access to them, their characteristics,
scientific and scholarly significance and notes on where they appear in
the original Notebook. It is possible to follow how the young Linnaeus
developed through his own choice of sources. Not unexpectedly, it then
transpires that the later notes refer to more purely scientific works.
Particular attention has naturally been devoted to the sections where
Linnaeus draws on his very own resources. Other chapters in the volume
present descriptions of surroundings of significance for the genesis of
the Notebook. Both his home and school environments are of great interest
in this context - included therefore are biographical portrayals of his
father and his circle of learned friends covering the home environment
and, as regards the schooling mainly of his mentor Johan Rothman. The form
of the 18th century education system in Sweden is also of great
importance. Linnaeus did, after all, partly enjoy a private education, and
that is the reason behind the descriptions of his years at Växjö as well
as his earlier years at Stenbrohult. An analysis of Linnaeus'
autobiographical notes from these his years at school are compared with
other sources. Little is known of the fate of the Notebook after he left
school in 1727. The volume is sumptuously illustrated.
THE SOLANDER BOX: a box handmade in 18th century style for the safe keeping of the volumes, covered in marbled paper, the spine in specially dyed cloth, spine titles in leather. Inside is fixed the unique numbering (1 - 500) of the publication, printed on handmade paper in genuine letterpress printing. The handmade paper comes from Lessebo handpaper mill, a paper-mill, located as it happens in Carl Linnaeus' childhood home province of Småland, Sweden, where it has been in business since 1693.
THE AUTHOR/TRANSCRIBER (The Comments and The Transcription): Torbjörn Lindell, Fellow of The Linnean Society of London and a Linnaeus bibliophile.
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