C.G.C. Reinwardt

Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt was a Dutch botanist from Prussian descent. In the 19th century, Reinwardt played a large role in the development of various Dutch museums and for a time he was involved with the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen in the former Dutch East Indies.

Description

Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt was a Dutch botanist of Prussian descent. In 1878, aged 14, he came to Amsterdam, where he studied botany and chemistry at the Athenaeum Illustre. In 1800 Reinwardt was appointed professor of chemistry, natural history and botany at the University of Harderwijk. In 1806 Louis Napoleon became king of the Dutch European territory and appointed Reinwardt director of his botanical and zoological gardens and museum in 1808 – first in Soest, then in Haarlem and then in Amsterdam. After the Netherlands became part of the French Empire in 1810, Reinwardt was appointed professor of various disciplines at the Athenaeum Illustre. In a relatively short period of time, Reinwardt had thus managed to work his way up to become an important figure in the Dutch academic and administrative world. So it is not surprising that King Willem I, after the Dutch kingdom was restored in 1813, appointed Reinwardt as Director of Agricultural affairs, Sciences and Arts in the commission that was tasked with the administrative reorganisation of the Indian archipelago after the British interregnum.

In this role, Reinwardt opened the botanical garden ‘s Lands Plantentuin in Buitenzorg (Bogor) on 18 May 1817, also becoming its first director. While in the Dutch East Indies Reinwardt undertook several expeditions to add to the collection of ‘his’ botanical garden. As was usual at the time, he did not limit his collecting to plant specimens but also took other natural history and ethnographic material to Bogor, where it was exhibited in a small natural history museum in the botanical garden. He also sent many natural history objects to the European Netherlands, where they were made available to ‘s Lands Kabinet van Natuurlijke Historie (the National Cabinet of Natural History), which would later form the foundation for the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (now Naturalis Biodiversity Center). During his travels Reinwardt was assisted by personal ‘collectors’, the most important of these being Jacob D'Arnaud van Boeckholtz and August Fransz Treffz.

In 1820 King Willem I appointed Reinwardt professor of botany, natural history and chemistry at the University of Leiden, as well as director of the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden. Despite this he was granted permission to stay in Indonesia until 1822, during which he made a trip to Timor, the Moluccas and Celebes. The book Reis naar het oostelijk deel van den Indischen archipel in het jaar 1821 was published posthumously and is based on notes Reinwardt left about the trip. In his position as director of the Hortus Botanicus, Reinwardt wrote a new catalogue, which was much needed after the many additions to the garden's collection. Meanwhile, other natural history scholars in the Netherlands had not been idle, and for example the job of director of the National Museum of Natural History, to which Reinwardt aspired, had already been given to Coenraad Jacob Temminck. Reinwardt died in 1854. Although he was not able to fulfil all his scientific ambitions, such as converting his many notes into various scientific publications, he left a clear stamp on natural history and other museum collections in the Netherlands.

Provenance research

Many archival materials and works published by Reinwardt are available online. Reinwardt's personal archive is in the custody of Leiden University; the library has an extensive collection guide with information about the archive. Reinwardt's correspondence from 1802 to 1854 has been published by the Huygens Institute and is available online. Given the relatively large role Reinwardt played in the development of the museum world in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century, you are likely to come across him in the archives of several Dutch museums. Andreas Weber's biography Hybrid ambitions : science, governance, and empire in the career of Caspar G.C. Reinwardt (1773-1854) gives a comprehensive overview of Reinwardt's life and can serve as a reference to relevant archival material. See below for more relevant primary and secondary sources.

Resources

• DBNL - Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt
  Overview of relevant literature relating to Reinwardt within the Digital Library of Dutch Literature (DBNL) platform. — https://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=rein010
• Caspar George Carl Reinwardt archive and collection
  Leiden University collection guide on the Reinwardt archive kept there. Also contains useful references to other relevant archival material. — https://collectionguides.universiteitleiden.nl/resources/ubl208
• Hoogleraren Universiteit Leiden - Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt
  Database of Leiden University with biographical data of (former) professors. — https://hoogleraren.universiteitleiden.nl/s/hoogleraren/item/1738
• Reinwardt, C. G. C., and Heiningen, Teunis Willem van. The Correspondence of Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773-1854). Voorburg: U2pi, 2011.
  The correspondence of Reinwardt collated by T.W. van Heiningen, contains correspondence with various relevant figures. — https://dwc.knaw.nl/wp-content/bestanden/reinwardt.pdf
• Reinwardt, C.G.C. Reis naar het oostelijk gedeelte van den Indischen Archipel, in het jaar 1821. Frederik Muller, 1858.
  Book compiled by Reinwardt's successor at Leiden University, W.H. de Vriese, based on Reinwardt’s notes. Describes Reinwardt's journey to Timor, the Moluccas and Celebes from 1820 to 1822. — https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKIT03:000187285:pdf
• Weber, A. Hybrid Ambitions: Science, Governance, and Empire in the Career of Caspar G.C. Reinwardt (1773-1854). Leiden University Press (LUP), 2012.
  Dissertation by Andreas Weber from 2012 in the form of a biography of Reinwardt, gives a comprehensive overview of Reinwardt's life and work and places these in chronological context. Contains many references to relevant (archival) material. — https://hdl.handle.net/1887/18924
• Inventaris van het archief van prof. C.G.C. Reinwardt, 1808-1828 (NL-HaNA, Reinwardt, 2.21.204)
  Archive of Reinwardt at the National Archives in The Hague. Contains a wide variety of documents. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.21.204/download/pdf
• Biografisch Portaal Nederland - Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt
  Biographical portal with biographical data of a wide array of ‘important’ Dutch people. Also includes references to other biographies. — http://www.biografischportaal.nl/persoon/40457008
• — https://dwc.knaw.nl/wp-content/bestanden/reinwardt.pdf
• Reinwardt, Caspar Georg Carl. Redevoering van C.G.C. Reinwardt: over hetgeen het onderzoek van Indië tot uitbreiding der natuurlijke historie heeft toegebragt. Gehouden den 3 mei 1823, bij het plegtig aanvaarden van het gewoon hoogleeraarsambt in de scheikunde, kruidkunde en natuurlijke historie aan de Hoogschool te Leyden. Nederland: J. van der Hey, 1823.
  Oration by Reinwardt at his inauguration as professor of chemistry, botany and natural history and also director of the Hortus Botanicus at Leiden University. — https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Redevoering_van_C_G_C_Reinwardt/d-hBAAAAYAAJ?hl=nl&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivxcKS1rOKAxWr8bsIHSaIL9cQiqUDegQIDRAC
• Reinwardt, Caspar Georg Carl. Waarnemingen aangaande de gesteldheid van de grond van het eiland Aruba, en het goud aldaar gevonden. Nederland: n.p., 1827.
  Reinwardt's 1851 book on the presence of gold in Aruba's soil. — https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Waarnemingen_aangaande_de_gesteldheid_va/rsdG6_mZAeEC?hl=nl&gbpv=0
• Haan, W. de, P. W. Korthals, Salomon Müller, H. Schlegel, C.J. Temminck, and Natuurkundige Commissie in Oost-Indië (Netherlands). Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche bezittingen. Leiden: In commissie bij. S. en J. Luchtmans en C.C. van der Hoek, 1839.
  Treatises of the Natuurkundige Commissie in the Dutch East Indies, originally published in parts between 1839 and 1847. Comprises three volumes: 1: Geography and Ethnology, 2: Zoology and 3: Zoology (continued) and Botany. — https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.114730
• Weber, Andreas. “Bitter Fruits of Accumulation: The Case of Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773-1854).” History of Science 52 (3): 297-318. 2014.
  Article by Andreas Weber on the life and work of Reinwardt. — https://doi.org/10.1177/0073275314546970