Call Number:

Coll.418

Repository:

Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia

Extent:

5.0 linear inches

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Coll.418, Constantine Samuel Rafinesque papers, 1818-1977, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

Date:

1818-1977 (inclusive)

Creator:

Rafinesque, C. S., (Constantine Samuel), 1783-1840

Form:

Biographies, Correspondence, Family papers, Field notes, and Manuscripts

Abstract:

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) was a naturalist who is best known for his contributions to scientific classification and nomenclature and giving Latin names to approximately 6,700 plants. While in the United States, he toured west of the Alleghenies and made important botanical discoveries in Kentucky and Illinois. This collection dates from 1818 to 1977 and consists of copies of Rafinesque's professional letters, family material, and research by F. W. Pennell regarding Rafinesque. The majority of the collection is composed of biographical letters and rough drafts made by Pennell.

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) was a naturalist who is best known for his contributions to scientific classification and nomenclature and giving Latin names to approximately 6,700 plants.

Rafinesque was born in Galata, near Constantinople on October 22, 1783, the son of Francois G. A. and Madeleine Rafinesque. Much troubled by the turmoil in France in the late 1700s and early 1800s, his father moved frequently, from France, to Italy and to Philadelphia, where he died of yellow fever in 1793. Rafinesque was educated in Italy, but was largely self-taught.

In 1802, Rafinesque arrived in Philadelphia for an apprenticeship with the mercantile house of the Clifford Brothers. However, he was fascinated by the plants and wildlife he saw on the North American continent and in 1804, he left his work with Clifford Brothers and "made extended botanical tours into Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia," (p. 368).

He returned to Italy, circa 1805, where he served as secretary to the United States Consul, and at the same time, collected specimens, studied botany, and wrote extensively. He lived there for ten years before returning to the United States in 1815. During his 1815 voyage, he was shipwrecked near Long Island and his collection of specimens, sketches, and unpublished manuscripts were lost. Upon his arrival in North America, he traveled throughout the United States, particularly along the Ohio River and in Kentucky. In 1819, Rafinesque took the position as professor of botany at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. While at Transylvania University, he was "often troubled by quarrels with colleagues, [but his years there] were among his most productive," (University of Evansville).

In 1826, he returned to Philadelphia, where "he traded in specimens and books; he gave public lectures; he organized a workingmen's bank; he invented and marketed a nostrum for tuberculosis," (University of Evansville), in addition to writing and publishing more than 200 works. At the time of his death, in Philadelphia in 1840, he had named approximately 6,700 plants.

Bibliography:

University of Evansville. "Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840) naturalist," http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/rafin.htm (accessed November 28, 2011).

The collection of Rafinesque's papers dates from 1818 to 1977. It contains xeroxed copies of letters and some of Rafinesque's notes, notes by Francis Whittier Pennell for his study of Rafinesque, and family letters, manuscripts, an engraving, and a bicentennial celebration for Transylvania University. The majority of the collection is composed of biographical letters and rough drafts made by Francis Whittier Pennell, a botanist who was extremely interested in the history and lives of early American botanists.

Some of the correspondents included in this collection are John Hendley Barnhart, L. A. Brown, Georgette Louise Lanthios, Jessie Ledridge, M. B. McDaniel, Frank T. McFarland, (Mrs.) Charles F. Norton, William J. Robbins, John W. Sandstedt, Henry Schuman, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Jonathan M. Steere, James J. Walsh, and Emilia Rafinesque Winston.