Lewis David von Schweinitz drawings of fungi

Title Variants

Alternative: Fungorum nieskiesium icones

Alternative: Fungorum niskiensium icones

By

Schweinitz, Lewis David von, 1780-1834 , artist

Coker, William Chambers, 1872-1953
Albertini, Johann Baptist von, 1769-1831 , Conspectus fungorum in Lusatiae Superioris agro Niskiensi crescentium

Type

Collection

Material

Archival material

Publication info

1805-1816

Notes

Eugene A. Rau stated that he had seen seven volumes of Icones. If this is true, the whereabouts of volumes 6 and 7 are unknown.

Individual watercolors measure from 2 x 2 cm. to 29 x 18 cm. Volume 1 differs from vol. 2, 3 and 5, as watercolors are on 32 x 20 cm. sheets glued to pages in the volume. Schweinitz gave each page a number, as well as each image.

RBC holds imperfect set. Volume 4: Chiefly illustrated, botanical descriptions handwritten in Latin.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has volume 4 of Fungorum Niskiensium Icones: 5 unnumbered leaves, 274-297, 1 unnumbered leaf, 298, 1 unnumbered leaf, 299-301, 301, 1 unnumbered leaf, 302-305, 2 unnumbered leaves, 306, 1 unnumbered leaf, 307-308, 1 unnumbered leaf, 309, 2 unnumbered leaves, 310, 1 unnumbered leaf, 311, 1 unnumbered leaf, 312-315, 1 unnumbered leaf, 316, 1 unnumbered leaf, 317, 1 unnumbered leaf, 318-319, 1 unnumbered leaf, 320, 321a, 321, 1 unnumbered leaf, 322-325, 1 unnumbered leaf, 326, 1 unnumbered leaf, 327, 1 unnumbered leaf, 328-330, 1 unnumbered leaf, 331, 1 unnumbered leaf, 332, 333a, 333, 1 unnumbered leaf, 334-338, 1 unnumbered leaf, 339-345, 1 unnumbered leaf, 346-347, 1 unnumbered leaf, 348, 1 unnumbered leaf, 349, Index A. Fungorum, Index B. Tabularum. Half binding: brown marbled paper boards backed by brown calf.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, typed provenance tipped in preceding front flyleaf, "This work was presented to the Department of Botany through W. C. Coker on Nov. 16, 1945, by Mrs. R. F. Willingham, Hotel Robert E. Lee, Winston-Salem, N. C. Mrs. Willingham was Miss Rosa Eleanor Fries, a double first cousin of Miss Adelaide Fries, through whose good offices the book was presented. The first 3 volumes & vol. 5 are in the possession of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, where are also his herbarium and many of his books. Miss Fries says the other three volumes contain original drawings but, according to her rather vague memory, they were not in color. We find from this volume that 33 figures shown herein appear also in 'Conspectus Fungorum' of Albertini and Schweinitz (1805), which we have. There is nothing in this volume to show when it was produced or that Schweinitz was the author, but on the flyleaf is written in pencil "Lewis D. de Schweinitz Drawn and painted by him at Niesky." The book was inherited from his collections by the ladies above mentioned, who are great granddaughters of de Schweinitz. Miss Adelaide Fries tells W. C. Coker on Nov. 17, 1945, that the signature using the "de" rather than "von" was not due to his having married a Frenchwoman but because at that time, when practically all scientific work was in Latin, it was supposed that "de" was more appropriate for Latin than "von.""

Hewitt, David. Lewis David von Schweinitz's Mycological Illustrations, | Bartonia 61 (2002): 48-53

Lynch, Dana M. Paintings of Fungi by Lewis David von Schweinitz in the Archives of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, | Bartonia 59 (1996): 125-128

Collection of Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 5 of Fungorum Nieskiesium Icones by Lewis David von Schweinitz. These 4 unpublished volumes consist of 368 plates containing 940 watercolors of fungi, expertly and artistically rendered in watercolor by Schweinitz, and after nearly 200 years still retain their vivid color and beauty. Agaricus is the genus that is most well represented. Seventy-one illustrations are those that were originally described by Schweinitz and his mentor Johannes Baptista von Albertini in their published work Conspectus Fungorum in Lusatiae superioris agro Niskiensi crescentium e methodo Persooniana (1805). Also included in the collection is a portfolio containing 81 loose plates. Only 18 of the loose plates portray fungi, but C. Earle Smith, Jr., has identified those as referring to fungi of Salem, N.C. The remaining 62 plates deal with vascular plants.

Lewis David von Schweinitz was the first American to focus his botanical efforts on fungi. Born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1780, Schweinitz moved with his family to Germany in 1798, and entered the Moravian Theological Seminary at Niesky in Silesia. There he met Professor Albertini, who was also interested in botany. Together Schweinitz and Albertini collected and studied fungi throughout the Niesky region and in 1805 published the Conspectus Fungorum in Lusatiae superioris agro Niskiensi crescentium e methodo Persooniana, which contained descriptions of 1130 fungi species including 93 newly described species. It was during this same time period, probably in conjunction with the development of Conspectus, that Schweinitz painted Fungorum Nieskiesium Icones.

Subjects

1800-1820 , 1945 , Agaricus , Botanical illustrations , Fungi , Inscriptions (Provenance) , Insertions (Provenance) , North Carolina , Watercolors , Winston-Salem

BHL Collections

Blog Features

Call Number

QK608.G4 S39 v.4

Language

Latin

Identifiers

OCLC: 51464688
Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q51398514