Eine Reise ins (Un-)Bekannte

Abstract

A Journey into the (Un)known. Borderlands of Knowledge for Leonhard Rauwolf (1535Rauwolf ( ?-1596 The Augsburg physician Leonhard Rauwolf is known to the history of Western sciences for "discovering" the exotic flora of the Near East. This article deals with the social background of his studies in Germany and France and his perception of foreign lands, plants, and peoples. Before Rauwolf started his journey at Marseille in 1573 he had received a proper education in practical botany at Montpellier under Guillaume Rondelet. He had also collected about 600 specimens of plants in his herbarium. According to the common medical conventions of his time -most prominently represented by the Renaissance anatomist Andreas Vesalius -in his travel account Rauwolf claimed to tell only what he had seen, experienced, observed by himself, or touched with his own hands. Contrary to his own claim of pure "autopsy", or direct experience, however, Rauwolf's Aigentliche Beschreibung [Actual Description] was composed from different sources. As previously unnoted manuscript letters from the Trew-collection at the University Library of Erlangen show, editorial work on Rauwolf's book was a lengthy process. The final composition ended up drawing on such different sources as the Old and New Testament, ancient natural philosophy, Christian travel literature and sermons, more recent botanical books, oral information from other academics, fellow travellers or indigenous people, and -finally -Rauwolf's own impressions and observations. Keywords: Leonhard Rauwolf, sciences and medicine of the 16 th century, botany, empiricism, travel literature Schlüsselwörter: Leonhard Rauwolf, Naturwissenschaft und Medizin im 16. Jahrhundert, Botanik, Empirismus, Reiseberichte Grenzen werden, anders als natürliche Barrieren, durch politische und kulturelle Bedingungen bestimmt. 1 Geographische oder klimatische Besonderheiten und große Gewässer mögen die Migration von Tier und Mensch behindern oder unmöglich machen. Die Begegnung mit dem Unbekannten mag bei einem Reisenden Gefühle der Fremdheit auslösen. Wesentlich für das Bewusstsein, sich einer Grenze genähert oder sie überschritten zu haben, dürften aber Erfahrungen soziokultureller Art sein: das Wissen, sich nun jenseits der vertrauten sprachlichen, kulturellen und politischen Welt zu bewegen. Expeditionen in ein von Menschen gänzlich unbewohntes Land stellen so eine Sonder-oder Extremform dieses "Kulturschocks" dar: In der

The early book herbaria of Leonhard Rauwolf (S. France and N. Italy, 1560–1563): new light on a plant collection from the ‘golden age of botany’

“…Rauwolf was born in Augsburg, a bustling merchant city in southern Germany. He became famous as the rst post-Medieval European to travel to the Near East in search for new medicinal plants (Walter 2009;Ghorbani et al 2018). This hazardous journey that lasted three years (1573-1576) is documented in detail in Rauwolf's personal travel account (Rauwolf 1583), a book that became a bestseller at its time, published in multiple editions and translations (Walter 2009;Ghorbani et al 2018).…”

Botanical and floristic composition of the Historical Herbarium of Leonhard Rauwolf collected in the Near East (1573­1575)

“…After the completion of his studies in France and his return to Augsburg, Rauwolf was sent to the Near East by the trading company of Melchior Manlich to search for new medicinal plants that could be traded profitably in Europe (Herde & Tilmann, 2010). On his arduous long journey, he collected plant specimens from the natural vegetation around cities, farmlands and gardens and also from bazaars, where traders from faraway countries sold their spices and medicines (Walter, 2009). Shortly after his return to Augsburg, Rauwolf compiled his fourth herbarium volume, with the original 200 plant specimens that he had collected during his journey and brought back to Europe.…”

“…He was also the first European who observed the local habit of drinking coffee (Friis, 2015). With its detailed descriptions of the people, customs, and dangers of the Levantine region, Rauwolf's travel account became a bestseller (Walter, 2009). The book was reprinted many times and translated into English by John Ray (Rauwolf, 1693) and Dutch by Pieter van der Aa (Rauwolf, 1706).…”

“…The book was reprinted many times and translated into English by John Ray (Rauwolf, 1693) and Dutch by Pieter van der Aa (Rauwolf, 1706). Although his travel account has been extensively studied by historians (Dannenfeldt, 1968;Walter, 2009;Herde & Tilmann, 2010), little attention has been given to Rauwolf's botanical collections (Ghorbani & al., 2017).…”

Bryophytes and lichens in 16th-century herbaria

“…The En Tibi herbarium has not been the subject of scientific research until now, apart from brief comments by Toresella (1992), who estimated that the collection was made between 1542 and 1544. A few years later, Leonhard Rauwolf (1535-1596, an ambitious German student of medicine, compiled three volumes of dried plants during his studies in Montpellier, including specimens that he collected from southern France, the Alps and northern Italy between 1560 and 1563 (Dannenfeldt, 1968;Walter, 2009;Thijsse, 2016). Later, Rauwolf became famous for his journey through the Near East that resulted in the 4th volume of his collection containing vascular plants from Syria, Lebanon and adjacent areas (Dannenfeldt, 1968;Ghorbani et al, 2017) and his travel account (Rauwolf, 1583).…”