Roxburgh, William, 1751-1815 (Botanist)

Person

Staff Only

Dates

Existence: 1751 - 1815

Biography

Roxburgh studied botany at the University of Edinburgh under Professor John Hope. Through Hope's in°luence he obtained an appointment as surgeon's mate on an East India Company's ship, later becoming an assistant surgeon. In 1793 he was appointed Superintendent of the Company’s Botanic Garden at Calcutta [now the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Kolkata], and has been described as the “founding father” of Indian botany.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Drawings of a Collection of East Indian Plants

Fonds

Identifier: Coll-478

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of drawings from Roxburgh's collection of East Indian plants. These were sent by Nathaniel Wallis (or Wallich) to Robert Wight for the Icones plantarum Indiae orientalis 1840-1853.

Dates: 19th century

Found in: University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections

Pata scroll illustrating the Indian career of the botanist William Roxburgh

Item

Identifier: Coll-1851

Content Description A traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, illustrating the life of botanist William Roxburgh, created by Gurupada Chitrakar in 2010 in West Bengal. It is a water-based paint on paper, mounted on cotton. Created using paint made with vegetable dyes, these scrolls are made by sewing together individual panels of paper. Fabric, often from old saris, is glued to the back to strengthen the scroll.Painted scrolls such as this, known as patas, are used...

Dates: 2010