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LINNAEUS, Carolus. Autograph letter signed ("Car: Linnaeus") to the Duke of Ayen (Louis de Noailles) (1713-1793), Uppsala, 8 August 1752. 2 pages, folio, left edges of recto and verso reinforced. In Latin.
"LAUNCHING HIMSELF ON THE OCEAN OF PLANTS"
A fine scientific letter, mentioning the impending publication of his seminal work, Species Plantarum. Linnaeus describes how carefully he has arranged the various plants he has collected either in Sweden or abroad. He explains how he has arranged and distinguished them within their genus. He tells Ayen that he will soon publish an account of these species--almost certainly a reference to his Species Plantarum, which was published in two volumes in Stockholm in 1753. It remains the foundational text for the system of plant nomenclature used today. Here Linnaeus describes his work on this book as "launching himself on the ocean of plants," and he hopes the book will rectify some of his earlier classification errors. He goes on to ask Ayen to send him a work on rare plants by Le Monnier, and for some seeds of wild Trianthema.
"LAUNCHING HIMSELF ON THE OCEAN OF PLANTS"
A fine scientific letter, mentioning the impending publication of his seminal work, Species Plantarum. Linnaeus describes how carefully he has arranged the various plants he has collected either in Sweden or abroad. He explains how he has arranged and distinguished them within their genus. He tells Ayen that he will soon publish an account of these species--almost certainly a reference to his Species Plantarum, which was published in two volumes in Stockholm in 1753. It remains the foundational text for the system of plant nomenclature used today. Here Linnaeus describes his work on this book as "launching himself on the ocean of plants," and he hopes the book will rectify some of his earlier classification errors. He goes on to ask Ayen to send him a work on rare plants by Le Monnier, and for some seeds of wild Trianthema.