Johannes Zorn (1739 in

Kempten Kempten (, (Swabian German: )) is the largest Town#Germany, town of Allgäu, in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by th ...

– 1799) was a German pharmacist, botanist and botanical illustrator. After his studies in pharmacy, Zorn became an apothecary in his hometown. He made extensive trips across Europe to collect medicinal plants, and between 1779 and 1790 published 6 volumes of "''Icones plantarum medicinalium''" in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in which he illustrated and described over 600 medicinal plants. Later in 1796 this was published as the six-volum
"''Afbeeldingen der Artseny-Gewassen met Derzelver Nederduitsche en Latynsche Beschryvingen''"
in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

by J. C. Sepp & Zoon. It was illustrated by 600 handcoloured engraved plates, the Dutch text being from

Martinus Houttuyn Maarten Houttuyn or Houttuijn (1720 – 2 May 1798) Latinised as Martinus Houttuyn, was a Dutch naturalist. Houttuyn was born in Hoorn, studied medicine in Leiden and moved to Amsterdam in 1753. He published many books on natural history, e.g. ...

`s "''Natuurlijke Historie''". A rare 1813 supplement by

Adolphus Ypey Adolphus Ypey or Adolphus Ypeus or Adolf Ypey (4 June 1749, Franeker - 27 February 1822, Leiden), was a Dutch botanist and Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine who graduated at the University of Franeker and stayed on to lecture in botany. He later l ...

also contains 100 plates. A further supplement of 12 plates and 12 pages of text was published later. He was passionate about the flora of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

and publishe
"''Dreyhundert auserlesene amerikanische Gewachse''"
with 250 coloured plates, the majority after Jacquin's "''Selectarum Stirpium Americanarum Historia''". Jacquin was associated with the gardens of Schoenbrunn as a result of being deputed by the emperor

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

to gather exotic plants from America for cultivating in the palace grounds. Hundreds of plants from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

found their way to the palace and led to the publishing in 1763 of Jacquin's edition which was beautifully illustrated, but prohibitively expensive. Zorn's more affordable version shows hand-coloured plates smaller than the original engravings. He is commemorated in the genus ''

Zornia ''Zornia'' is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs from the legume family Fabaceae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Adesmia'' clade of the Dalbergieae. Species ''Zornia'' comprises the following species: * '' Zornia acuta'' S ...

'' and is denoted by the author abbreviation Zorn when citing a

botanical name A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the '' International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the ''Intern ...

External links

Gallery of Zorn paintings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zorn, Johannes Botanical illustrators 1739 births 1799 deaths People from Kempten im Allgäu 18th-century German botanists