Scope and Content
This collection consists of an eight-page manuscript containing descriptions of the genus Vaccinium with annotations by Boott. The descriptions were copied by Boott from a manuscript at the British Museum. It is dated September 25, 1843, and is directed to Asa Gray.
Dates
- Creation: 1843
Creator
- Boott, Francis, 1792-1863 (Person)
Conditions Governing Use
The collection is available by appointment for research. Researchers must register and provide valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.
Extent
0.1 linear feet (1 folder)Biography
Francis Boott was born in Boston on September 26, 1792, the third son of Kirk and Mary Love Boott. He entered Harvard College in 1806 and completed an A.B. in 1810. He spent the next few years with relatives in Derby, England.
Boott returned to Boston in 1814 and dedicated his time to studying botany. In the summer of 1816 he was one of several men who accompanied Jacob Bigelow’s botanical explorations of the mountains of New England. He was elected to the Linnean Society in 1819 and was an active member for the rest of his life, serving as secretary, treasurer, and vice-president.
Boott moved to England permanently in 1820 and married Mary Hardcastle in Derby that year; the couple had five children. Boott studied medicine in London under John Armstrong and then at the University of Edinburgh, where he received an M.D. in 1824. After an additional year of study in Paris, Boott established a practice in London. He also lectured on botany and carried out his own scientific studies, eventually giving up medicine to devote himself to the study of the genus Carex.
Boott published several articles on Carices and the first volume of his “Illustrations of the Genus Carex” was published in 1858. Two more volumes were published in 1860 and 1862. The fourth and final volume was published posthumously after Boott’s death on December 25, 1863. The genus Boottia is named in his honor.
Sources
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 1865. Francis Boott, M.D. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts. 6:305-308.
Gray A. 1864. Francis Boott, M.D. Amer. J. Sci. Arts. Series II. 37(110):288-292.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Boott manuscript was sent to Asa Gray and likely was given to the Gray Herbarium with his papers.
Processed by
Lynn McWhood
January 1982
Creator
- Boott, Francis, 1792-1863 (Person)
- Title
- Boott, Francis, 1792-1863. Francis Boott manuscript, 1843: A Guide.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University.
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- gra00004
Repository Details
Part of the Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Repository
The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Gray Herbarium Library specializes in the identification and classification of New World plants with emphasis on North American plants. The Archives of the Gray Herbarium houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Gray Herbarium.
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