Plant seeds
Date
1674
Creator
Marcello Malpighi (1628 - 1694, Italian) , Physician
Object type
Archive reference number
Manuscript page number
p139r
Material
Dimensions
height (page): 320mm
width (page): 220mm
width (page): 220mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Sectional studies of seeds of two plant species in different stages of development, viewed under magnification. Including:
Figure 244 [upper rows]: Seed of an unidentified species referred to by Malpighi as Avellanis.
Figure 255 [lower rows]: Seed of a chestnut tree, Castanea, referred to as the same.
Each drawn on an individual slip of paper and arranged on the page for printing. Inscribed: ‘Tab XLI’ in top right-hand corner.
Page 139 from MS/103/1, later published as Tab. XLI in Marcello Malpighi's Anatome plantarum (1675).
Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), Italian biologist and physician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1669.
Figure 244 [upper rows]: Seed of an unidentified species referred to by Malpighi as Avellanis.
Figure 255 [lower rows]: Seed of a chestnut tree, Castanea, referred to as the same.
Each drawn on an individual slip of paper and arranged on the page for printing. Inscribed: ‘Tab XLI’ in top right-hand corner.
Page 139 from MS/103/1, later published as Tab. XLI in Marcello Malpighi's Anatome plantarum (1675).
Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694), Italian biologist and physician, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1669.
Object history
Marcello Malpighi’s research on the anatomy of plants was encouraged and supported by the Royal Society, as evidenced by correspondence between him and the then-Secretary, Henry Oldenburg FRS (1619-1677) in the 1660s and 1670s [MS/103/1].
An abstracted version of his work in this area was first read at a Society meeting on 7 December 1671 [JBO/4, pp.216-217]. The full manuscript of Anatome Plantarum, together with the frontispiece artwork and these plates, was received and read on 28 January 1674/75 [MS/103/1-2].
It was ordered for printing by the Society’s printer John Martin in June 1675 [CMO/1/221]. The published work consists of the text of Anatome Plantarum and De ovo incubato as an appendix, and 61 plates illustrating each [54 and 7 respectively].
An abstracted version of his work in this area was first read at a Society meeting on 7 December 1671 [JBO/4, pp.216-217]. The full manuscript of Anatome Plantarum, together with the frontispiece artwork and these plates, was received and read on 28 January 1674/75 [MS/103/1-2].
It was ordered for printing by the Society’s printer John Martin in June 1675 [CMO/1/221]. The published work consists of the text of Anatome Plantarum and De ovo incubato as an appendix, and 61 plates illustrating each [54 and 7 respectively].
Related fellows
Marcello Malpighi (1628 - 1694, Italian) , Physician
Associated place
