Isaac Rand
Encyclopedia
Isaac Rand was an English botanist and apothecary, who was a lecturer and director at the Chelsea Physic Garden.
The year of his death is given by Dawson Turner as 1743 (Richardson Correspondence, p. 125); but he was succeeded in the office of demonstrator by Joseph Miller in 1738 or 1740.
's Mantissa, published in that year, he is mentioned as the discoverer, in Tothill Fields, Westminster, of the plant now known as Rumex palustris
, and was described (p. 112) as "stirpium indagator diligentissimus … pharmacopœus Londinensis, et magnæ spei botanicus.’ He seems to have paid particular attention to inconspicuous plants, especially in the neighbourhood of London. Thus Samuel Doody
records in a manuscript note: "Mr. Rand first showed me this beautiful dock Rumex maritimus
, growing plentifully in a moist place near Burlington House" (Trimen and Dyer, Flora of Middlesex, p. 238), and Adam Buddle
, in his manuscript flora
(Sloane MSS. 2970–80), which was completed before 1708, attributes to him the finding of Mentha pubescens "about some ponds near Marybone", and of the plant styled by James Petiver
"Rand's Oak Blite" (Chenopodium glaucum).
In 1707 Rand, and nineteen other members, including Petiver and Joseph Miller
, took a lease of the Chelsea garden, to assist the Society of Apothecaries, and were constituted trustees; and for some time prior to the death of Petiver in 1718 Rand seems either to have assisted him or to have succeeded him in the office of demonstrator of plants to the society. In 1724 he was appointed to the newly created office of præfectus horti, or director of the garden. Among other duties he had to give at least two demonstrations in the garden in each of the six summer months, and to transmit to the Royal Society the fifty specimens per annum required by the terms of Sir Hans Sloane
's donation of the garden. Lists of the plants sent for several years are in the Sloane MSS. Philip Miller
was gardener throughout Rand's tenure of the office of præfectus, and it was in 1736 that Carl Linnæus visited the garden. Dillenius's edition of John Ray
's Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum (1724) contains several records by Rand, whose assistance is acknowledged in the preface, and he is specially mentioned by the illustrator Elizabeth Blackwell
as having assisted her with specimens for her Curious Herbal (1737–9), which was executed at Chelsea. He is one of those who prefix to the work a certificate of accuracy, and a copy in the British Museum Library has manuscript notes by him.
Rand prompted botanical artists like Blackwell, and Georg Dionysius Ehret
, to make illustrations of the living herbaceous plants produced by the gardens.
Rand was friends with Mark Catesby
, receiving seeds he collected in the Americas
and a subscriber to his seminal Natural History of the region.
Rand produced two catalogues of the Garden and coöperated with the Leiden Physic Garden via Herman Boerhaave
. In 1730, perhaps somewhat piqued by Philip Miller's issue of his Catalogus in that year, Rand printed an Index plantarum officinalium in horto Chelseiano. In a letter to Samuel Brewer
, dated ‘Haymarket, July 11, 1730’ (Nichols, Illustrations, i. p. 338), he says that the Apothecaries' Company ordered this to be printed. In 1739 Rand published ‘Horti medici Chelseiani Index Compendiarius,’ an alphabetical Latin list occupying 214 pages.
His widow presented his botanical books and extensive collection of dried specimens to the company, and bequeathed 50s. a year to the præfectus horti for annually replacing twenty decayed specimens in the latter by new ones. This herbarium was preserved at Chelsea, with those of Ray and Dale, until 1863, when all three were presented to the British Museum
(Journal of Botany, 1863, p. 32). Rand was a fellow of the Royal Society
in 1739. Linnæus retained the name Randia
, applied by William Houston in Rand's honour to a genus of tropical Rubiaceæ.
Life
Isaac was probably son of James Rand, who in 1674 agreed, with thirteen other members of the Society of Apothecaries, to build a wall round the Chelsea Botanical Garden. Isaac Rand was already an apothecary practising in the Haymarket, London, in 1700.The year of his death is given by Dawson Turner as 1743 (Richardson Correspondence, p. 125); but he was succeeded in the office of demonstrator by Joseph Miller in 1738 or 1740.
Works
In Leonard PlukenetLeonard Plukenet
Leonard Plukenet was an English botanist, Royal Professor of Botany and gardener to Queen Mary. Plukenet published Phytographia in four parts in which he described and illustrated rare exotic plants. It is a copiously illustrated work of more than 2 700 figures and is frequently cited in books...
's Mantissa, published in that year, he is mentioned as the discoverer, in Tothill Fields, Westminster, of the plant now known as Rumex palustris
Rumex palustris
Rumex palustris or Marsh Dock is a plant species of the genus Rumex.The species was mentioned by Leonard Plukenet, based on a collection made by Isaac Rand. The authority of the accepted description, Rumex palustris, was James Edward Smith...
, and was described (p. 112) as "stirpium indagator diligentissimus … pharmacopœus Londinensis, et magnæ spei botanicus.’ He seems to have paid particular attention to inconspicuous plants, especially in the neighbourhood of London. Thus Samuel Doody
Samuel Doody
-Life:The eldest of the second family of his father, John Doody, an apothecary in Staffordshire who later moved to London where he had a shop in The Strand, he was born in Staffordshire 28 May 1656...
records in a manuscript note: "Mr. Rand first showed me this beautiful dock Rumex maritimus
Rumex maritimus
Rumex maritimus is an annual plant species of the genus Rumex.-External links:****...
, growing plentifully in a moist place near Burlington House" (Trimen and Dyer, Flora of Middlesex, p. 238), and Adam Buddle
Adam Buddle
Adam Buddle was an English cleric and botanist.Born at Deeping St James, a small village near Peterborough, Buddle was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1681, and an MA four years later. Buddle was eventually ordained into the Church of England, obtaining a...
, in his manuscript flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
(Sloane MSS. 2970–80), which was completed before 1708, attributes to him the finding of Mentha pubescens "about some ponds near Marybone", and of the plant styled by James Petiver
James Petiver
James Petiver was a London apothecary, a Fellow of the Royal Society as well as London's informal Temple Coffee House Botany Club, famous for his study of botany and entomology.-Life:...
"Rand's Oak Blite" (Chenopodium glaucum).
In 1707 Rand, and nineteen other members, including Petiver and Joseph Miller
Joseph Miller
Joseph Miller was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.Born in Virginia, Miller attended the common schools.He moved to Ohio and settled in Chillicothe.He was graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1839....
, took a lease of the Chelsea garden, to assist the Society of Apothecaries, and were constituted trustees; and for some time prior to the death of Petiver in 1718 Rand seems either to have assisted him or to have succeeded him in the office of demonstrator of plants to the society. In 1724 he was appointed to the newly created office of præfectus horti, or director of the garden. Among other duties he had to give at least two demonstrations in the garden in each of the six summer months, and to transmit to the Royal Society the fifty specimens per annum required by the terms of Sir Hans Sloane
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS was an Ulster-Scot physician and collector, notable for bequeathing his collection to the British nation which became the foundation of the British Museum...
's donation of the garden. Lists of the plants sent for several years are in the Sloane MSS. Philip Miller
Philip Miller
Philip Miller FRS was a Scottish botanist.Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until he was pressured to retire shortly before his death...
was gardener throughout Rand's tenure of the office of præfectus, and it was in 1736 that Carl Linnæus visited the garden. Dillenius's edition of John Ray
John Ray
John Ray was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him".He published important works on botany,...
's Synopsis Methodica Stirpium Britannicarum (1724) contains several records by Rand, whose assistance is acknowledged in the preface, and he is specially mentioned by the illustrator Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell (illustrator)
Elizabeth Blackwell , was a Scottish botanical illustrator and author. She achieved fame as a botanical illustrator, and was both artist and engraver for the plates of "A Curious Herbal", published between 1737 and 1739...
as having assisted her with specimens for her Curious Herbal (1737–9), which was executed at Chelsea. He is one of those who prefix to the work a certificate of accuracy, and a copy in the British Museum Library has manuscript notes by him.
Rand prompted botanical artists like Blackwell, and Georg Dionysius Ehret
Georg Dionysius Ehret
Georg Dionysius Ehret was a botanist and entomologist, and is best known for his botanical illustrations.Ehret was born in Germany to Ferdinand Christian Ehret, a gardener and competent draughtsman, and Anna Maria Ehret. Beginning his working life as a gardener's apprentice near Heidelberg, he...
, to make illustrations of the living herbaceous plants produced by the gardens.
Rand was friends with Mark Catesby
Mark Catesby
Mark Catesby was an English naturalist. Between 1731 and 1743 Catesby published his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America...
, receiving seeds he collected in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
and a subscriber to his seminal Natural History of the region.
Rand produced two catalogues of the Garden and coöperated with the Leiden Physic Garden via Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, humanist and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital. His main achievement was to demonstrate the relation of symptoms to lesions...
. In 1730, perhaps somewhat piqued by Philip Miller's issue of his Catalogus in that year, Rand printed an Index plantarum officinalium in horto Chelseiano. In a letter to Samuel Brewer
Samuel Brewer
Samuel Brewer , was an English botanist.Brewer was a native of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, where he possessed a small estate, and was engaged in the woolen manufacture, but seems to have been unsuccessful in business...
, dated ‘Haymarket, July 11, 1730’ (Nichols, Illustrations, i. p. 338), he says that the Apothecaries' Company ordered this to be printed. In 1739 Rand published ‘Horti medici Chelseiani Index Compendiarius,’ an alphabetical Latin list occupying 214 pages.
His widow presented his botanical books and extensive collection of dried specimens to the company, and bequeathed 50s. a year to the præfectus horti for annually replacing twenty decayed specimens in the latter by new ones. This herbarium was preserved at Chelsea, with those of Ray and Dale, until 1863, when all three were presented to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
(Journal of Botany, 1863, p. 32). Rand was a fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in 1739. Linnæus retained the name Randia
Randia (plant)
Randia, commonly known as indigoberry, is a mostly neotropical genus of shrubs or small trees in the Rubiaceae. The International Plant Names Index lists a total of 738 names for the genus, synonyms included. Several Australian species have been reassigned to the genus Atractocarpus. These include...
, applied by William Houston in Rand's honour to a genus of tropical Rubiaceæ.