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Historical Bibliography Updated: June 13, 2020

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus: Continens regni Malabarici apud Indos cereberrimi onmis generis plantas rariores, Latinas, Malabaricis, Arabicis, Brachmanum charactareibus hominibusque expressas ....12 vols.

Publication Details

Amsterdam: sumptibus Johannis van Someren, et Joannis van Dyc, 1678 CE–1703 CE.

The earliest comprehensive printed work on the flora of Asia and the tropics in 12 folio volumes written and published under the supervision of van Rheede tot Drakenstein, a colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company and naturalist. This set describes plants of the Malabar region which at time of publication referred to the stretch along the Western Ghats mountains from Goa to Kanyakumari. It describes 742 different plants and their indigenous science, employing a system of classification based on the traditions adopted by the practitioners of that region. In addition to their Latin names the work records plant names in  MalayalamKonkani, and Arabic. Digital facsimile of the complete set from the Biodiversity Heritage Library at this link.

Botanists collaborating in this set included:

Almeloveen, Theodoor Jansson ab, 1657-1712

Casearius, Johannes, ca. 1642-1677 

Commelin, Johannes, 1629-1692 

Dyck, Jan van. 

Munniks, Johannes, 1652-1711 

Poot, Abraham van, b. ca. 1617.- 

Someren, Joannes van.

Syen, Arnold, 1640-1678 

Boom, Henrik & Dirk. 

Catalog MetadataReference Information
Entry Number#9543
Permanent Linkhttps://staging.historyofmedicine.com/entry/11729
Author Bio LinkWikipedia ↗
External URLhortus-indicus-malabaricus-continens-regni-malabarici-apud-indos-cereberrimi-onmis-generis-plantas-rariores-latinas-malabaricis-arabicis-brachmanum-charactareibus-hominibusque-expressas-

Geographic Context

Publication place: Amsterdam