You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Portuguese. (November 2009)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the Portuguese article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Portuguese Wikipedia article at [[:pt:Historia Naturalis Brasiliae]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|pt|Historia Naturalis Brasiliae}} to the talk page.
Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (English: Brazilian Natural History), originally written in Latin, is the first scientific work on the natural history of Brazil, written by Dutch naturalist Willem Piso and containing research done by the German scientist Georg Marcgraf, published in 1648.[1] The work includes observations made by the German naturalist H. Gralitzio, in addition to humanist Johannes de Laet.[2] It was dedicated to Johan Maurits, Count of Nassau, who was the patron of the project during the period of Dutch rule in Brazil.[3]
The research of the work focuses on the coast of the Northeast, during its occupation by the Dutch West India Company. Marcgraf and Piso had started their field research of the area in 1637. The work covers tropical diseases and indigenous therapies, but Piso depicts the indigenous peoples of Brazil as barbarians who lack scientific education. Piso and his contemporaries thought that the indigenous peoples would be unable to contribute to any studies on medicine and botany.[4]
The book had wide circulation in Northern Europe, and was admired for the illustrations accompanying the text. The work remained unsurpassed until the 19th century. [5] In Denmark, Ole Worm followed the book's organizational structure when documenting the natural history of Denmark. He reused some of the book's illustrations n his own work, Museum Wormianum.[6]Carl Linnaeus and Albert Aublet also reused the work of Macgrave in several of their texts and images.[6]
Research focused on the coast of the Northeast Region
Though referring to Brazil generally throughout the text, the authors' research was of the coastal strip of the Northeast, occupied by the Dutch West India Company. It is based on Marcgraf and Piso's time in Brazil, starting in 1637. It offers an important early European insight into Brazilian flora and fauna by analyzing plants and animals, and studying tropical diseases and indigenous therapies. Also included is William Piso's interpretation and first opinions of the indigenous people who he would go on to describe as barbarous and lacking in science. This would lead to concern amongst Piso and his contemporaries that these people might not be able to contribute to studying medicine and botany.[7]
Editorial work
It was edited, as stated on its title page, in: "Lugdun. Batavorum:[8] apud Franciscum Hackium; et Amstelodami:[9] apud Lud. Elzevirium".[3]Elzevirium is the Latin name of the prestigious publisher Elzevir.[10]
Published in a single volume
The work consists of a single volume, originally measuring 40cm (16in) in height and its full title, with subtitle, is: " Historia naturalis Brasiliae ...: in qua non tantum plantae et animalia, sed et indigenarum morbi, ingenia et mores describuntur et iconibus supra quingentas illustrantur ".[11]
Reception and circulation
The Brazilian physician and researcher Juliano Moreira said of the work:
This clearly masterful work, when carefully reexamined, shows, at each perquisition, new excellences, and thus it is still one of the most authentic glories of Dutch medical literature. We owe to Pies a description, so accurate and meticulous, of the then reigning endemics in Brazil and the means of treating them. He observed the yaws, tetanus, various types of paralysis, dysentery, hemeralopia, maculopapular. He described Ipecac and emeto - cathartic qualities, which aboriginals used long before the famous doctor Adrian Helvetius, grandfather of the notable French philosopher Claudio Adriano Helvetius received from Louis XIV a thousand louis gold, titles and honors for having discovered exactly those same therapeutic virtues. The Treaty of Helvetius titled "Remède contre le cours du ventre.[12]
The work circulated widely in Northern Europe and beyond, so that while it detailed the flora and fauna of coastal South America, it was an important publication for those working elsewhere. Richly illustrated scientific texts allowed knowledge to be disseminated even when scholars themselves could not travel to the research site. The work remained unsurpassed until the nineteenth century, and between its initial publication and subsequent research it remained highly influential. Diverse writers referred to the text, including Miguel Venegas, author of Noticia de la California (1757), Anglo-American Protestant theologian Cotton Mather, who saw in the text evidence of divine planning; and amateur American naturalist Thomas Jefferson, who mentioned Marcgraf in his Notes on the State of Virginia.[13]
Influence on ecology and imitation by Ole Worm
This work would prove to be incredibly influential especially in the field of ecology, being used by a variety of different ecologists in different locations and time. The long lasting influence could be seen outside of just the field of ecology, as well, with various other forms of science utilizing the findings in various ways. In particular, Ole Worm utilized a similar organizational structure when documenting natural history of Denmark while even using some of the images in his work, Museum Wormianum.[6]Carl Linnaeus and Albert Aublet would also use the work of Macgrave in several of their texts and images.[6]
Impact on 20h-century herbariums
Relevancy was still found in the 20th century with a herbarium being discovered that would contain a hefty amount of items that were used in the Netherlands during the 17th century. The utility of these documents from John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen were able to assist other researchers and academics even in a more modern context. This discovery would also cause people to seek out a variety of these books detailing herbariums in order to achieve further information than those available to Maurice.[14]
↑ Neil Safier, "Beyond Brazilian Nature: The Editorial Itineraries of Marcgraf and Piso's Historia Naturalis Brasiliae," in Michiel Van Grosen, The Legacy of Dutch Brazil. New York: Cambridge University Press 2014, pp. 168-186.
1 2 História Natural do Brasil - edição brasileira: Guilherme Piso (trans. Alexandre Correia, seguido do texto original, da biografia do autor e de comentários) (1948). História Natural do Brasil Ilustrada (edição comemorativa do primeiro cinqüentenário do Museu Paulistaed.). Companhia Editora Nacional. p.431.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Smith, Justin E. H. “New Worlds.” Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference: Race in Early Modern Philosophy, Princeton University Press, PRINCETON; OXFORD, 2015, pp. 70–91. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1dr363q.8.
1 2 3 4 Da Silva, Maria Angélica, and Melissa Mota Alcides. “Collecting and Framing the Wilderness: The Garden of Johan Maurits (1604-79) in North-East Brazil.” Garden History, vol. 30, no. 2, 2002, pp. 153–176. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1587250.
↑ Smith, Justin E. H. “New Worlds.” Nature, Human Nature, and Human Difference: Race in Early Modern Philosophy, Princeton University Press, PRINCETON; OXFORD, 2015, pp. 70–91. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1dr363q.8.
↑ Lugdun[um] Batavorum is the Latin name of the Dutch city of Leiden
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
