Onsekizinci Yüzyılın İkinci Yarısında Doğu Akdeniz Bölgesinde Bir Bitki Toplayıcısı: John Sıbthorp (1758-1796)
A plant collector in the East Mediterranean Region in the second half of the eighteenth century: John Sibthorp (1758-1796)
Yazar: Baytop, Asuman
Dergi: Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları, Vol. 7 No. 2, 2006
Anahtar kelimeler: John Sibthorp, Anadolu gezileri, botanik tarihi ; John   Sibthorp,travels   in   Anatolia,history of botany

John  Sibthorp  (1758-1796)  was  a  young  professor  of  botany  who  has  lived  at  Oxford  in  the  second  half  of  eighteenth  century.  As  physician,  his  interest was to recollect the plants compiled in the first century by Dioscorides﻿﻿﻿﻿ of  Anazarba  (S.  Anatolia)  and  to  find  others  which  may  have  some  medicinal  uses. He was further planning to write a Greek flora. He came twice to the East Mediterranean  region.  In  his  first  visit  (1786-1787),  he  collected  from  Greece,  Aegean Islands, West Anatolia and Cyprus. He was accompanied by the young Austrian  artist  Ferdinand  Bauer  (1760-1826).  In  the  second  (1794-1795),  he  mainly travelled through Greece. He died early in 1796, before setting in order his  rich  material.  According    to  his  bequest,  after  his  death,  J.E.Smith  (1759-1828)  wrote  in  two  octavo  volumes  the  Florae  Graecae  Prodromus,  published  from 1806 to 1816, and started to prepare the FloraGraeca, which consists of ten  folio  volumes  containing  996  coloured  plates  drawn  by  F.Bauer.  He  published the first 6 volumes, but died. The remaining volumes were produced by J.Lindley (1799-1865). The completion of this big work took a much longer time,  from  1806  to  1840.  Sibthorp's  aim  was  thus  successfully  accomplished,  may it be 44 years after his death. Little  is  known  about  the  travels  of  Sibthorp  in  West  Anatolia.  He  debarked to Izmir in 1786 and arrived to Istanbul in Autumn. Two times he has been in Istanbul, first from Autumn 1786 to early Spring 1787, then from May to  September  1794.  In  1786  he  climbed  Uludağ  up  to  the  summit.  He  shortly  visited  the  Marmara  sea  shores  of  Çanakkale  in  March  1787  and  in  September  1794.  According  to  his  specimens  cited  in  Flora  ofTurkey  and  in  Flora Orientalis,  he  has  collected  from  Bithynia,  Phrygia,  Lydia,  Caria,  Lycia,  Olympus bithyniae and mons Sipylus. We don't known exactly the dates of his collectings in these areas, but it is clear that he visited it in his first travel, i.e. in 1786 and in Spring 1787. He climbed twice to Uludağ, in 1786 and 1794. Flora  of  Turkey  cites  no  more  than  50  Turkish  specimens  collected  by  Sibthorp, of which 36 are types. In Flora Orientalis, we find nearly 290 of his specimens  from  Anatolia.  During  his  sojourn  in  Istanbul,  Sibthorp  visited  the  Bazar and the drugshops. He prepared a list of the Latin names of the medicinal and  useful  plants  which  were  sold  there.  The  list  records  38  plants  with  their  local uses.

John  Sibthorp  (1758-1796)  was  a  young  professor  of  botany  who  has  lived  at  Oxford  in  the  second  half  of  eighteenth  century.  As  physician,  his  interest was to recollect the plants compiled in the first century by Dioscorides﻿﻿﻿﻿ of  Anazarba  (S.  Anatolia)  and  to  find  others  which  may  have  some  medicinal  uses. He was further planning to write a Greek flora. He came twice to the East Mediterranean  region.  In  his  first  visit  (1786-1787),  he  collected  from  Greece,  Aegean Islands, West Anatolia and Cyprus. He was accompanied by the young Austrian  artist  Ferdinand  Bauer  (1760-1826).  In  the  second  (1794-1795),  he  mainly travelled through Greece. He died early in 1796, before setting in order his  rich  material.  According    to  his  bequest,  after  his  death,  J.E.Smith  (1759-1828)  wrote  in  two  octavo  volumes  the  Florae  Graecae  Prodromus,  published  from 1806 to 1816, and started to prepare the FloraGraeca, which consists of ten  folio  volumes  containing  996  coloured  plates  drawn  by  F.Bauer.  He  published the first 6 volumes, but died. The remaining volumes were produced by J.Lindley (1799-1865). The completion of this big work took a much longer time,  from  1806  to  1840.  Sibthorp's  aim  was  thus  successfully  accomplished,  may it be 44 years after his death. Little  is  known  about  the  travels  of  Sibthorp  in  West  Anatolia.  He  debarked to Izmir in 1786 and arrived to Istanbul in Autumn. Two times he has been in Istanbul, first from Autumn 1786 to early Spring 1787, then from May to  September  1794.  In  1786  he  climbed  Uludağ  up  to  the  summit.  He  shortly  visited  the  Marmara  sea  shores  of  Çanakkale  in  March  1787  and  in  September  1794.  According  to  his  specimens  cited  in  Flora  ofTurkey  and  in  Flora Orientalis,  he  has  collected  from  Bithynia,  Phrygia,  Lydia,  Caria,  Lycia,  Olympus bithyniae and mons Sipylus. We don't known exactly the dates of his collectings in these areas, but it is clear that he visited it in his first travel, i.e. in 1786 and in Spring 1787. He climbed twice to Uludağ, in 1786 and 1794. Flora  of  Turkey  cites  no  more  than  50  Turkish  specimens  collected  by  Sibthorp, of which 36 are types. In Flora Orientalis, we find nearly 290 of his specimens  from  Anatolia.  During  his  sojourn  in  Istanbul,  Sibthorp  visited  the  Bazar and the drugshops. He prepared a list of the Latin names of the medicinal and  useful  plants  which  were  sold  there.  The  list  records  38  plants  with  their  local uses.