Buch (Leopold von)
Original title: Buch (Leopoldo von)
Leopold von Buch (1774–1853), German geologist and botanist, visited Madeira in 1811 with Christen Smith; the Madeiran plant list often attributed to him is actually Robert Brown's.
A learned German geologist and botanist, born in Stolp, in the Uckermark, on 25 April 1774 and died in Berlin on 4 March 1853. He visited Madeira in 1811 in the company of the Norwegian botanist Chetien Smith; the two naturalists landed in Funchal on 26 April and left for the Canary Islands on the 2nd of the following month.
The observations made by Buch and Smith on our island were recorded in the Narrative of an Expedition to explore the River Zaire... in 1816, under the direction of Captain J. K Tuckey (London, 1818).
The work entitled Verzeichniss der auf Madeira wildwachsenden Pflanzen, which almost all botanists attribute to Leopold von Buch because it was included in the work he published in 1825 under the title Physicalische Beschreibung der Canarischen Inseln, is by Robert Brown, not by von Buch.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03Place
Places mentioned · 04
Abroad
- Berlin
Germany. Where Buch died.
The German capital, where several works on Madeira were published, including Krohn's 1906 guide, Langerhans's Handbuch für Madeira and Albers's Malacographia maderensis. Leopoldo von Buch died there, and Portuguese diplomats including Pedro de Castelo Branco and Agostinho de Ornelas de Vasconcelos served there.
- Canary Islands
Spain. Destination after leaving Madeira.
The Canary Islands are the archipelago neighbouring Madeira, with disputed accounts of their discovery. Tradition holds that their Béthencourt king sold them to Prince Henry in exchange for lands in Madeira. The Elucidário notes many contacts between the two archipelagos, including scientific visits, the Orfeão Madeirense's tour in May 1922 and the massacre of forty Jesuits in their waters.
- Funchal
Where Buch and Smith landed in 1811.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
People
People mentioned · 04- Leopoldo von Buch1774–1853
German geologist who visited Madeira in April–May 1811.
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Norwegian botanist who accompanied Buch to Madeira in 1811.
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Leader of the 1816 Zaire expedition whose narrative recorded Buch and Smith's observations.
- Robert Brown1773–1858
True author of the Madeiran plant list included in Buch's 1825 book.