Thanks, Bob.

You have to evaluate works of reference based within a larger context. It's
unfortunate when they get things wrong, because the mistakes tend to be
perpetuated, as we have all seen in this thread.

The elite of several Baltic countries acquired surnames during a time of
French ascendancy, when French culture was much admired and imitated.
Accordingly, Frederick the Great of Prussia named his palace Sans Souci and
many Baltic German and Swedish aristocrats gallicized their names. Others,
especially in Sweden and the Netherlands, thought that a Latin or latinized
name gave them a higher tone, hence names like Arrhenius and Linnaeus.

"Linnaeus" was the original name. Late in life, the botanist was ennobled
and he changed his official name to Linné. It was the fashion. I say, use
the name that you see on the title page, modifying it back to the nominative
case if the original is in the genitive. (That is, since Linnaei means
Linnaeus's, it is appropriate to call him Linnaeus not Linnaei even if you
see Linnaei in the byline. Since reading such books requires a basic
knowledge of Latin, this should not pose any difficulty. <smile>) If you
like, add the author's other name in square brackets for clarity. The
original works are posted on the Web (for the URLs, see messages posted by
Bernd Sahlmann and Scott Jordan).

For most people, use either Linnaeus or Linné, frankly it doesn't matter, we
know who you mean and won't expect you to know the minutiae of 18th-century
science and culture. But if you're writing a textbook, then get it right!

As a matter of possible interest, one of Linnaeus's relatives took the
surname Tiliander, meaning "linden man", referring to the same tree.

If anyone wants to perpetuate this thread further, please include at least
one of Linnaeus's jokes. This well is getting awfully dry.

Cheers,
Andy

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama


-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bob
Dayle
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2006 8:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Linnaeus' roots


"Charles Linnaeus was born on 23d May 1707, at Rashult, in the province of
Smaland. His father, Nils, whose ancestors were peasants, was pastor of the
village, and being the first learned man of his house, had, agreeably to a
custom prevalent in Sweden, changed his family-name with his profession, and
borrowed that of Linne' from a large linden-tree, which stood in the
vicinity of his native place, between Tomsboda and Linnhult. His mother,
Christina Broderson, was the daughter of his father's predecessor in
office."

The above is the first paragraph on Linnaeus from LIVES OF EMMINENT
ZOOLOGISTS by W. MacGillivray, a tattered discard from an eastern Indiana
library which happened to fall into my hands a few years ago. It is a second
edition dated MDCCCXXXIV (1834), Edinburgh.

This paragraph seems to indicate that when Charles Linnaeus was born, his
father's name was Nils Linne'. I have kept this book simply because it comes
from a time much closer to that period of interest, and I hope that it
reports the facts with less "time" distortion than later books.

Add this tidbit to growing heap info on Linne'..

Aloha,

Bob Dayle

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