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KC1976-63
LINNAEUS IN HIS LAPLAND DRESS.
KC1976-63

LINNAEUS IN HIS LAPLAND DRESS.

DateJune 1, 1805
Engraver Robert Dunkarton
After work by Martin Hoffman
Publisher Dr. Robert John Thornton (1768? - 1837)
OriginEngland, London
MediumBlack and white mezzotint engraving
DimensionsFramed H: 26 1/16: Framed W: 21 1/16"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1975-246
DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "LINNAEUS IN HIS LAPLAND DRESS./ From an original Picture in the Possession of D.r Thornton./ Hoffman Pinx.t/ London Published by D.r Thornton June 1, 1805/ Dunkarten Sculp.t"
Label TextCarl Linnaeus (1707–1778), the Swedish botanist who developed the binomial system of biological identification still in use today, was the most important contributor to the classification of plants and animals in the 18th century. In his system, every living thing has two names, one for genus, the main subdivision of a family of plants or animals, and the other for species, a more specific division of like organisms within each genus.

Linnaeus revealed the foundation of his classification system in Systema Naturae (1735) and Genera Plantarum (1737). His later publication, Species Plantarum (1753), remains the basis for modern botanical nomenclature. Like many 18th-century scientists, Thomas Martyn, Professor of Botany at Cambridge University, utilized Linnaeus’s system of classification for his book on vegetables.