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COLLECTION Identifier: gra00053

Antonio Targioni-Tozzetti botanical manuscript

Scope and Content

The Targioni-Tozzetti Papers consists of four printed pages attributed to Targioni-Tozzetti. It is likely that this sheet was originally part of a bound work. A handwritten note on the first page reads, "Belonged to Targioni-Tozzetti" and pages are all marked "S. Targioni-Tozzetti." Each page contains six columns of Latin plant names, arranged alphabetically by genus and species, with an emphasis on horticultural plants.

Dates

  • Creation: 1800s

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is available by appointment for research. Researchers must register and provide valid photo identification. Please contact botref@oeb.harvard.edu for additional information.

Extent

0.1 linear feet (1 folder)

Biography

Antonio Targioni-Tozzetti was born on September 30, 1785 in Florence, Italy. He was the son of botanist Ottaviano Targioni-Tozzetti and his wife Vittoria Campana, and the grandson of botanist Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti.

Targioni-Tozzetti enrolled at the University of Pisa in 1804. After completing degrees in medicine and philosophy in 1807 he returned to Florence where he continued to study anatomy and medicine, eventually joining his father’s medical practice in 1811. In 1820 he began assisting his father’s directorial work at the Giardino dei Semplici which brought him into contact with many of the leading Italian botanists of the time.

Targioni-Tozzetti married Francesca “Fanny” Ronchivecchi in October 1821; the couple had three daughters. Fanny oversaw a literary salon at their home which became a gathering place for Florentine politicians, writers, and scientists.

In the following years Targioni-Tozzetti taught botany, materia medica, and chemistry at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. He assumed directorship of the Giardino dei Semplici after his father’s death in 1829 as well as management of the Museo Targioniano, a family archive and extensive collection of natural history objects which included the herbarium of botanist Pier Antonio Micheli. Declining health and personal reasons forced Targioni-Tozzetti to give up teaching in 1852. He became seriously ill in the fall of 1856 and died later that year on December 18.

Sources

University of Florence Natural History Museum. 2006. I Targioni Tozzetti fra ‘700 e ‘900. Florence (IT): [publisher unknown].

Tassi F. 1905. La Botanica nel Senese. Bull. Lab. Orto Bot. Reale Univ. Siena. 7:3-56.

Von Lindemann E. 1885. Dritter bericht üren den bestand meines herbariums. Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou. 61(1):37-92.

Provenance

The provenance of this collection is unknown.

Related Materials

Other related material at the Botany Libraries, Harvard University Herbaria: Jane Gray autograph collection, 1563-1908.

Processing Information

Processed by Lynn McWhood

Title
Targioni-Tozzetti, Antonio, 1785-1856. Antonio Targioni-Tozzetti botanical manuscript, 1800s: A Guide.
Status
completed
Author
Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University.
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
gra00053

Repository Details

Part of the Botany Libraries, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Repository

The Harvard University Herbaria houses five research libraries that are managed collectively as the Botany Libraries. The Gray Herbarium Library specializes in the identification and classification of New World plants with emphasis on North American plants. The Archives of the Gray Herbarium houses unique resources including personal papers, institutional records, field notes and plant lists, expedition records, photographs, original artwork, and objects from faculty, curators, staff, and affiliates of the Gray Herbarium.

Contact:
Harvard University Herbaria
22 Divinity Ave
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2366