TOREN (Olof). Voyage fait à Surate, à la Chine, &c depui - Lot 225

TOREN (Olof). Voyage fait à Surate, à la Chine, &c depuis le premier avril 1750 jusqu'au 26 juin 1752, publié par M. Linnaeus, & traduit du Suédois. Milan, by the Reycends brothers, 1771. In-12, 92 p., contemporary marbled calf, ornate smooth spine, red title page, marbled edges, restoration (spine rubbed, modern note p.92). First edition in French. Important natural history work donated by Carl von Linné (1707-1778) through the correspondence of one of his former students, chaplain to the Swedish East India Company. Olof Torén, Swedish Lutheran naturalist and pastor (1718-1753), took part in two Company expeditions, the first to Java (1748-1749), the second to India and China (1750-1752). It was during the latter trip that he undertook to send his observations to his illustrious professor in Uppsala. Linné published this correspondence as an appendix to the travel account by Torén's travelling companion Pierre Osbeck (1757), adding his own preface. During his journey, Torén had collected many rare plants, which he enriched Linné's herbariums with, and Linné named Torenia a genus of the scrophular family, which includes two Indian perennials that Torén had first made known. (Cordier, II, 2098).