| Authorised form of name | Petiver; James (c1663 - 1718); botanist and entomologist |
| Dates | c1663 - 1718 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Hillmorton, near Rugby, Warwickshire, England, Europe |
| Date of birth | 1663 |
| Place of death | Aldersgate Street, London, England, Europe |
| Date of death | 2 April 1718 |
| Dates and places | Burial:
Chancel of St Botolph's Church, Aldersgate Street, London, England, Europe (10 April 1718) |
| Occupation | Apothecary |
| Research field | Botany |
| Entomology |
| Activity | Education:
Rugby School; apprenticed to Charles Feltham, apothecary to St Bartholomew's Hospital, London; University of Leyden (1711)
Career:
Practised in London; corresponded with John Ray (FRS 1667) and many other naturalists; made a collection of several thousand plants; Apothecary to the Charterhouse (1700-1718); helped initiate 'The Monthly Miscellany; or, Memoirs for the Curious' (1707); Demonstrator of Plants to the Society of Apothecaries (1709); purchased Dr Hermann's museum in Leyden for Sir Hans Sloane (FRS 1685) (1711); Sloane purchased his collections of specimens, books and manuscripts after his death and they are now in the British Museum
|
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 27/11/1695 |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1702-1709 (with intermittent breaks); 1716-1717 |
| Other Royal Society activity | Presented findings as well as correspondence on natural history to the Society (1690s) |
| Relationships | Parents: James Petiver and Mary Elborowe |
| Published works | RCN: 49950 |
| General context | John Ray (FRS 1667) acknowledged Petiver's botanical expertise along with that of Petiver's friend Samuel Doody (FRS 1695) in his 1688 volume 'Historia Plantarum'. In the early 1690s, Petiver entered into a profitable correspondence with Samuel Browne, surgeon to the East India Company. Scottish surgeon James Cuninghame also proved to be an effective and productive collector for Petiver and sent speciments from China and Vietnam. Additionally, Petiver received specimens from John Smith, minister to the Royal African Company. His posthumous reputation as a collector was tarnished slightly by his close associate Sir Hans Sloane's (FRS 1685) complaint about the state of Petiver's collection, which reportedly delayed the production of Sloane's second volume of work on Jamaican flora and fauna. Petiver and Sloane were both associated with the informal botanical club which met at Temple Coffee House.
In his wide-ranging circle of correspondence, which included instructions to correspondents in Jamaica, for example, Petiver did systematise the use of enslaved people as collectors, though they remained uncredited. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Innes Smith
References:
Appleby, J H. 2003. 'The founding of St Petersburg in the context of the Royal Society's relationship with Russia', in Notes and Records, vol. 57, pp. 273-284
Armytage, W H G. 1954-5. 'The Royal Society and the Apothecaries', in Notes and Records, vol. 11, pp. 22-37
Delbourgo, J. 2017. 'Collecting the World: The Life and Curiosity of Hans Sloane' (Allen Lane)
Egerton, F N. 1970. 'Richard Bradley's Relationship with Sir Hans Sloane', in Notes and Records, vol. 25, pp. 59-77
Fontes da Costa, P. 2002. 'The Culture of Curiosity at The Royal Society in the first half of the eighteenth century', in Notes and Records, vol. 156, pp. 147-166
Ibanez, N et al. 2006. 'Plant material exchanged between James Petiver (ca.1663-1718) and Joan Salvador I Riera (1683-1725). I. The Balearic plants conserved in the BC-Salvador', in Notes and Records, vol. 60, pp. 241-248
Jarvis, C E and Coulton, R. 2020. 'A Chronology of the Life of James Petiver (ca 1663-1718)', in Notes and Records, vol. 74, pp. 183-187
Notes:
There is some discrepancy within sources as to Petiver's year of birth. Hunter, as well as Jarvis and Coulton, have 1663, while ODNB estimates 1665. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/34799386 |
| Royal Society code | NA6857 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EL/P1/100 | Letter, from Mr [James] Petiver [to the Royal Society] | 18 February 1696 |
| RBO/8/63 | A further account of Nuce vomica from Father Camelli to John Ray and James Petiver | 1699 |
| LBO/14/123 | Copy letter from Dr Alex Stewart, Leyden, to James Petiver | 30 June 1711 |
| LBO/15/43 | Copy extract of a letter from Mr Walduck to James Petiver | 20 May 1714 |
| MS/390/103 | Bond of James Petiver to the Treasurer of the Royal Society | 30 November 1695 |
| EL/L4/39 | Translation of a letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to James Petiver | 1711 |
| CLP/10i/35 | Letter, 'A description and figure of the true amomum or tugus' Reverend George Camelli [Georg Joseph Kamel] to John Ray and James Petiver | [1698] |
| CLP/10i/41 | Paper, 'Storax liquida alias rosa mallas' by James Petiver | [1707] |
| EL/W3/127 | Extract of a letter, from Thomas Walduck to James Petiver | 20 May 1714 |
| EL/R1/55 | Letter, from Olaum Rudbeck senior and Olaum Rudbeck junior to James Petiver, dated at Uppsala | 3 April 1700 |
| EL/L4/38 | Letter, from Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to James Petiver, dated at Delft | 18 August 1711 |
| EL/T/67 | Letter, from John Thorpe to [James] Petiver, dated at University College, Oxon [Oxford] | 24 July 1704 |
| EL/B2/46 | Letter, from Benjamin Bullivant to James Petiver, dated at Boston | 25 January 1698 |
| CLP/10i/36 | Letter, 'A further and more exact account of the same' by Reverend George Camelli [Georg Joseph Kamel] to John Ray and James Petiver | [1690s] |