Sir Andrew Balfour (18 January 1630 – 9 or 10 January 1694
[) was a Scottish doctor, botanist, antiquary and book collector, the youngest brother of the antiquarian ]Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet
Sir James Balfour, 1st Baronet of Denmilne and Kinnaid ( – 1657), of Perth and Kinross, Scotland, was a Scottish annalist and antiquary.
Biography
James Balfour was a son of Sir Michael Balfour of Denmilne, Fife, and Joanna Durham.
Balfou ...
.
Life
Andrew Balfour was born on 18 January 1630, the son of Sir Michael Balfour of Denmilne, Fife, and Joanna Durham. Balfour received his early education at the parish school of Abdie, before studying philosophy at St. Andrews, where he studied philosophy and arithmetic under Thomas Glegg and graduated with an MA in 1650. Balfour's oldest brother, Sir James Balfour, encouraged him to collect literary, antiquarian and natural history objects. He moved to London and in 1650 became a pupil to John Wedderburn, the King's physician. After London, Balfour travelled to France in 1657 where he studied medicine in Paris and at the University of Caen
The University of Caen Normandy (French: ''Université de Caen Normandie''), also known as Unicaen, is a public university in Caen, France.
History
The institution was founded in 1432 by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, the first rector ...
. Balfour obtained a degree with a dissertation entitled ''De Venae Sectione in Dysenteria''. Returning to London, he became a governor end of 1661 to John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680) was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the "spiritual authoritarianism" of the Puritan era. Rochester embodie ...
, travelling to France and Italy with him from end of 1661 to 1664.
In 1667, Balfour set up medical practice in St Andrews
St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...
. By this time, he had amassed a large collection of scientific and medical books, curiosities and instruments: his 'rarities' were called the 'Museaum Balfourianum' by contemporaries. In 1670, he moved to set up practice in Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.[Janet Browne]
'Balfour, Sir Andrew, first baronet (1630–1694)
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2010, accessed 5 October 2010 He planted a small botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
next to his house. Balfour's cousin was Robert Sibbald
Sir Robert Sibbald (15 April 1641 – August 1722) was a Scottish physician and antiquary.
Life
He was born in Edinburgh, the son of David Sibbald (brother of Sir James Sibbald) and Margaret Boyd (January 1606 – 10 July 1672). Educated at th ...
, whom he succeeded as third president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...
in 1684.[ Balfour and Sibbald set up a garden together near ]Holyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Ref ...
, which Balfour subsequently persuaded the university to fund.[ Balfour and Sibbald were also key figures in the creation of the ]Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia
The ''Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia'' was a medical guide consisting of recipes and methods for making medicine. It was first published by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1699 as the ''Pharmacopoea Collegii Regii Medicorum Edimburgensiu ...
. Sutherland's catalogue of 1684 indicates that the garden had about 2,000 non-indigenous species.
After Balfour's death, his library was sold, with a printed catalogue listing 3,501 items. Travel advice to Patrick Murray, Laird of Livingstone (who had died on European tour in 1671) was subsequently published as ''Letters to a Friend'' (1700).[
]
Works
*''Letters written to a Friend by the learned and judicious Sir Andrew Balfour, M.D. containing excellent direction and advices for travelling thro' France and Italy'', 1700 [''https://archive.org/details/letterswrittento00balf]
References
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Andrew
1630 births
1694 deaths
17th-century Scottish medical doctors
Scottish book and manuscript collectors
17th-century Scottish botanists
Alumni of the University of St Andrews
University of Caen Normandy alumni
Scottish antiquarians
Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh