The Life and Travels of John Bartram

In my 21 years as a special collections librarian, I've been fortunate to work with the outstanding collections at the Winterthur Library and the Library Company of Philadelphia. I am beyond thrilled to now serve as the Abby and George O’Neill Director of the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library.

Many books have inspired me, but today I'll be talking about The Life and Travels of John Bartram, by Edmund Berkeley and Dorothy Smith Berkeley (1982). John Bartram (1699-1777) was a self-taught botanist and third-generation Quaker in Pennsylvania. His plant-collecting forays throughout the eastern American colonies are documented in A description of East-Florida, with a journal, kept by John Bartram of Philadelphia, botanist to His Majesty for the Floridas (1766) among other writings.

Reading about an 18th-century Philadelphian while working in Philadelphia really brought the past to life for me. I was surrounded by books and documents written or read by people John Bartram had known, and my daily walk through the city led me past many of the places Bartram had frequented. Although I’d certainly heard of Bartram before I worked in Philadelphia, what really piqued my curiosity about him was a collection of fascinating nature prints (printed impressions of leaves) held by the Library Company. Made by a close friend of Bartram’s named Joseph Breintnall, annotations on the prints indicate that Bartram had supplied his friend with many of the botanical specimens. I loved learning how Bartram’s boundless curiosity about plants led to a lifetime of exploration and connected him not only to Breintnall, but to a whole network of citizen scientists in the American colonies and across the Atlantic.

What sticks out in my memory is the lifelong relationship between Bartram and his friend, sponsor, and chief encourager, Peter Collinson. Collinson was, among other things, a cloth merchant, book-buyer for the Library Company, and as the authors put it, a “rabidly enthusiastic gardener” who collected seeds, bulbs, and plants from around the world to see what would grow in his English garden. In Bartram, Collinson found an enthusiastic supplier. Although they never met, they corresponded steadily from 1733 until Collinson’s death in 1768.

Many of their letters had to do with the plant-collecting expeditions Collinson asked Bartram to take, including a 1736 expedition to trace the Schuylkill River from Philadelphia to its source. For this trip, Collinson recommended that Bartram be equipped with three horses (one each for himself and a servant, and one packhorse); large waterproof panniers and a supply of paper to hold and wrap plant specimens; a compass with a sundial to record the course of the river and to tell time; and a journal in which Bartram could record his daily observations. Amused by these suggestions, Bartram made the 300-mile trip with just one trusty horse and the same saddlebags that he always used. The specimens he collected, along with his journal and the map he created, were dutifully sent to Collinson upon his return.

I think this book would appeal to anyone who enjoys stories of travel and exploration and encounters with nature in the new world. John Bartram’s kind and gentle personality really comes through in his letters with Collinson, and his inherent curiosity about the natural world sparked my imagination and inspired me to learn more about the flora and fauna that surrounds me.