[41] “As we passed, we saw everywhere abundance of flowers, such as the
narcissus, hyacinth, and those called by the Turks tulipan, not without
great astonishment, on account of the time of the year, as it was then
the middle of winter, a season unfriendly to flowers. Greece abounds
with narcissuses and hyacinths, which have a remarkably fragrant smell:
it is, indeed, so strong as to hurt those who are not accustomed to
it. The tulipan, however, have little or no smell, but are admired for
their beauty and variety of their colour. The Turks pay great attention
to the cultivation of flowers; nor do they hesitate, though by no
means extravagant, to expend several aspers for one that is beautiful.
I received several presents of these flowers, which cost me not a
little.”--_Busbequii Ep._, Basiliæ, 1740, 8vo, p. 36.
[42] See some account of them in Memoriæ populorum ad Danubium by
Stritter.
[43] The _Tulipa sylvestris_, Linn. grows wild in the southern parts of
France. Dodonæus says, in his Florum coronariarum herbarum historia,
Antverpiæ 1569, 8vo, p. 204, “In Thracia et Cappadocia tulipa exit;
Italiæ et Belgio peregrinus est flos. Minores alicubi in Gallia
Narbonensi nasci feruntur.” Linnæus reckons it among the Swedish
plants, and Haller names it among those of Switzerland, but says,
afterwards, I do not believe it to be indigenous, though it is found
here and there in the meads.--_Hist. Stirp._ ii. p. 115. It appears
that this species is earlier than the common _Tulipa Gesneriana_,
though propagated from it. The useless roots thrown perhaps from
Gesner’s garden have grown up in a wild state, and become naturalized,
as the European cattle have in America. See Miller’s Gardener’s
Dictionary, iv. p. 518.
[44] See Martini Lexicon Philologicum, and Megiseri Diction.
Turcico-Lat., where the word _tulbent_, a turban, is derived from the
Chaldaic.
[45] Balbini Miscellanea Bohemiæ, p. 100.
[46] Gesneri Epistolæ Medicinales. Tiguri, 1577, 8vo, p. 79 and 80.
[47] Vita Peirescii, auctore Gassendo. 1655, 4to, p. 80.
[48] Hakluyt says, “And now within these four years there have been
brought into England from Vienna in Austria, divers kind of flowers
called tulipas, and those and others procured thither a little
before, from Constantinople, by an excellent man, Carolus Clusius.”
See Biographia Britannica, ii. p. 164. [Gerarde in his Herbal, 1597,
speaks of the Tulip in the following manner:--“My loving friend Mr.
James Garret, a curious searcher of simples, and learned apothecary in
London, hath undertaken to find out, if it were possible, the infinite
sorts by diligent sowing of their seeds, and by planting those of his
own propagation, and by others received from his friends beyond the
seas for the space of twenty years, not being yet able to attain to the
end of his travail, for that each new year bringeth forth new plants of
sundry colours not before seen; all of which, to describe particularly,
were to roll Sisyphus’ stone, or number the sands.”]
[49] This word was coined by Menage.
[50] The principal works in which an account of this Tulipomania is to
be found are,--Eerste Tzamenspraak tuschen Waermondt en Gaargoed nopens
deopkomst en ondergang van Flora. Amsterdam, 1643, 12mo.--Meterani
Novi, or New History of the Netherlands, part fourth. Amsterdam, 1640,
folio, p. 518, from which Marquard, De Jure Mercatorum, p. 181, has
taken his information.--Naauwkeurige beschryving der Aardgewassen, door
Abraham Munting. Leyden en Utrecht, 1696, folio, p. 907.--De Koophandel
van Amsterdam, door Le Long, ii. p. 307.--Le Negoce d’Amsterdam, par
J. P. Ricard. A Rouen, 1723, 4to, p. 11.--Breslauer Samlung von Natur-
und Kunst-Geschichten, 1721, May, p. 521.--Francisci Schaubühne, vol.
ii. p. 639.--Tenzel, Monatliche Unterredungen, 1690, November, p.
1039.--Année Littéraire, 1773, xv. p. 16.--Martini Zeiler Miscellanea,
p. 29.--Christ. Funcii Orbis Politicus, p. 879.
[51] A perit is a small weight less than a grain.--TRANS.
[52] [How well the author’s remarks apply to the recent mania in
railway scrip!]
[53] In the year 1769, the dearest kinds in England were _Don Quevedo_
and _Valentinier_; the former cost 2_l._ 2_s._ and the latter 2_l._
12_s._ 6_d._ See Weston’s Botanicus Universalis, part 2. In the German
catalogues none of the prices are so high. The name _Semper Augustus_
is not once to be found in new catalogues. [They still remain flowers
of considerable value among florists; for, according to Mr. Hogg, a
moderate collection of choice bulbs cannot now be purchased for a sum
much less than 1000_l._, at the usual prices.--See Chambers’ Journal,
March 15, 1845.]
[54] Blainville’s Travels.
[55] Introd. in Hist. Lit. iii. 3, p. 92.
[56] That he might relax and refresh his mind, worn out by study, he
amused himself with the cultivation of his garden and of flowers, and
particularly of tulips, the roots of which he was at great pains to
procure from all parts of the world, by means of Dodonæus, Clusius,
and Boisotus, men singularly well-skilled in horticulture, and by
others of his friends. Here, at a distance from civil tumult, with a
cheerful countenance and placid eye, he sauntered through his plants
and flowers, contemplating sometimes one declining, sometimes another
springing up, and forgetting all his cares amidst the pleasure which
these objects afforded him. See the Life of Lipsius, prefixed to the
edition of his works printed at Antwerp in 1637. This is confirmed
by what Lipsius says himself in his book De Constantia, ii. 2, 3, in
praise of gardening.
[57] He rented a house near to the Vatican, with a garden, in which
he had planted the choicest flowers, and those chiefly which are not
propagated from seeds or roots, but from bulbs. These flowers were
not known about thirty years before, nor had they been ever seen at
Rome, but lay neglected in the Alps.--Of these flowers, which have no
smell, but are esteemed only on account of their colours, Barclay was
remarkably fond, and purchased their bulbs at a great price. Erythræi
Pinacotheca. Lips. 1712, 8vo, iii. 17, p. 623. See also Freheri
Theatrum, p. 1515.