Piety, diligence and learning: knowledge of American naturalia in Abraham Hill's commonplace books

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• Katrina Maydom (Department of History and Philosophy of Science)
• Monday 23 January 2017, 13:00-14:00
• Seminar Room 1, Department of History and Philosophy of Science.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Edwin Rose.

How was knowledge of American flora constructed in early modern England? Influenced by a commitment to benefit the commonwealth and better understand God’s creation, Abraham Hill (1633–1721) drew on classical and contemporary writers and reported experience to develop his knowledge of materia medica new to England. As a merchant, founding Fellow of the Royal Society and a Commissioner of the Board of Trade and Plantations, Hill occupied a unique position to draw on extant and commissioned sources of information about naturalia from the English colonies. By examining his ten volumes of little-studied commonplace books, we can gain significant insights into how he investigated nature and negotiated different authorities’ knowledge claims to understand the properties of ‘new world’ plants.

This talk is part of the Cabinet of Natural History series.

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