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Article SOMETHING CONCERNING THE TRADESCANTS. Page 1 of 4 →
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Something Concerning The Tradescants.
SOMETHING CONCERNING THE TEADESCANTS .
Itf the south-east part of Lambeth churchyard stands a very curious altar-tomb , which has recently undergone thorough renovation , and which appeals , by its antiquarian interest , very strongly to the lovers of art , and to the cultivators of all those sciences which
have so greatly contributed to the advancing intelligence of the nineteenth century . It was erected to the memory of John Tradescant , a man of no inconsiderable learning , of great research , and whose peregrinations in foreign lands had extended yery considerably beyond those of ordinary travellers of the days in which he lived . England may very justly be proud to enrol such a man in the records of her greatness ; for , although by birth a Pleming , yet England was
the country of his adoption ; in it he died and was buried , and was succeeded by a son every way worthy to support the name of Tradescant , and to bear honourable mention on the same gravestone . Not only did the elder traveller penetrate his researches into the country of the Algerines , into Barbary , into the islands of Greece and the Mediterranean , but even into the steppes of Eussia ; the result being a very extensive and interesting collection of natural products and artificial objects .
In his love for the wonders and marvels of nature , he appears to have never wearied , and to have prosecuted his spirited undertaking with the most unremitting assiduity . The son voyaged to Virginia , a colony then of the deepest interest to naturalists , and returned to his father ' s house laden with rare and remarkable plants . Upon what occasion , or in what year , John Tradescant left bis native
country , and took up his abode in the land of his adoption , is not precisely known ; certain it is that he was living in Lambeth , in a large house , in the year 1629 , and that he had then obtained the appointment of gardener to the king , Charles the Pirst . He had been , previously to this , in the service of the lord treasurer , Salisbury ; in that of Lord Wotton , and also of the duke of Buckingham ; by all of whom he was held in the highest estimation .
His house was their constant resort , and the museum contained in it was contributed to , and visited by the king himself , as well as by the Queen , Henrietta , and many other people of high rank and station . It obtained the soubriquet of Tradescant ' s Ark ; and by the extraordinary nature of its contents , as well as by their great rarity and variety , amply merited the renown accorded to it .
Attached to the house was an extensive garden , and an orchard adjoining , which was visited in 1749 by several virtuosos , was most probably a part of the property , inasmuch as it then contained many uncommon species of fruit trees and . other plants not generally cultivated . Prom Algiers Tradescant brought home a famous apricot , and from Turkey some plums , till then unknown to Englishmen . He also introduced a gladiolus from Constantinople , the beautiful large rose daffodil , and many other floral novelties , conspicu-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Something Concerning The Tradescants.
SOMETHING CONCERNING THE TEADESCANTS .
Itf the south-east part of Lambeth churchyard stands a very curious altar-tomb , which has recently undergone thorough renovation , and which appeals , by its antiquarian interest , very strongly to the lovers of art , and to the cultivators of all those sciences which
have so greatly contributed to the advancing intelligence of the nineteenth century . It was erected to the memory of John Tradescant , a man of no inconsiderable learning , of great research , and whose peregrinations in foreign lands had extended yery considerably beyond those of ordinary travellers of the days in which he lived . England may very justly be proud to enrol such a man in the records of her greatness ; for , although by birth a Pleming , yet England was
the country of his adoption ; in it he died and was buried , and was succeeded by a son every way worthy to support the name of Tradescant , and to bear honourable mention on the same gravestone . Not only did the elder traveller penetrate his researches into the country of the Algerines , into Barbary , into the islands of Greece and the Mediterranean , but even into the steppes of Eussia ; the result being a very extensive and interesting collection of natural products and artificial objects .
In his love for the wonders and marvels of nature , he appears to have never wearied , and to have prosecuted his spirited undertaking with the most unremitting assiduity . The son voyaged to Virginia , a colony then of the deepest interest to naturalists , and returned to his father ' s house laden with rare and remarkable plants . Upon what occasion , or in what year , John Tradescant left bis native
country , and took up his abode in the land of his adoption , is not precisely known ; certain it is that he was living in Lambeth , in a large house , in the year 1629 , and that he had then obtained the appointment of gardener to the king , Charles the Pirst . He had been , previously to this , in the service of the lord treasurer , Salisbury ; in that of Lord Wotton , and also of the duke of Buckingham ; by all of whom he was held in the highest estimation .
His house was their constant resort , and the museum contained in it was contributed to , and visited by the king himself , as well as by the Queen , Henrietta , and many other people of high rank and station . It obtained the soubriquet of Tradescant ' s Ark ; and by the extraordinary nature of its contents , as well as by their great rarity and variety , amply merited the renown accorded to it .
Attached to the house was an extensive garden , and an orchard adjoining , which was visited in 1749 by several virtuosos , was most probably a part of the property , inasmuch as it then contained many uncommon species of fruit trees and . other plants not generally cultivated . Prom Algiers Tradescant brought home a famous apricot , and from Turkey some plums , till then unknown to Englishmen . He also introduced a gladiolus from Constantinople , the beautiful large rose daffodil , and many other floral novelties , conspicu-