Clusius was highly knowledgeable about the English and Dutch voyages of exploration

With the assistance of acquaintances such as Porret and Bernardus Paludanus in Holland, and James Garet and Hugh Morgan in England, Clusius was highly knowledgeable about the English and Dutch voyages of exploration, especially those led by Drake, Cavendish, Van Neck, and Van Warwyck in Europe. During the late 1580s, 1590s, and early 1600s, James and Pieter Garet, who were brothers and involved in apothecary, spice trading, and drug merchant activities, served as crucial characters. They were well-informed naturalists who regularly provided Clusius with information about unusual natural specimens and brought him these specimens. These two men are his most frequently cited sources when it comes to unusual subjects. Significant era when the Dutch and English disrupted the monopoly held by the Portuguese and Spanish over trade routes to the East Indies and the Americas.

Clusius not only learned about the great voyages of discovery, but also translated accounts of them into Latin. For example, he translated Thomas Harriot’s log of Sir Walter Raleigh’s voyage to Virginia in 1585 and Gerrit de Veer’s account of the Dutch voyages to the Arctic from 1594 to 1598. Clusius relied on those who had firsthand interactions with mariners or had personally traveled to those locations, as he did not journey outside of Europe himself. He highly prized first-hand testimonies and firsthand knowledge of tropical plants and their various uses, such as food, medicine, or other purposes. During the late 1590s, he conducted interviews with two Indians from Gujarat and Bengal in Amsterdam regarding tropical flora.

Clusius’s reliance on others meant that he typically did not have the autonomy to select which unusual species to include in his writings. Clusius acquired most of the exotic naturalia he described and illustrated through a combination of chance, others’ interest, and their successful journey to Europe. Clusius had strong connections in Holland with the individuals who organized the initial journeys to the East Indies and, starting in 1602, with the administrators of the VOC.

Clusius circulated a message to all Dutch ships heading to the East, requesting apothecaries and ship’s surgeons to bring back unusual naturalia. However, the outcomes were unsatisfactory, at least according to Clusius. The intelligence he received from private informants and acquaintances was more significant than the information he received through VOC channels.

The significance of exotic plants to Clusius can be inferred not just from his writings and actions, but also from Clusius’ personal relocations. His relocation from Frankfurt to Holland in 1593 can be partially attributed to the changing availability of exotic natural resources, which was closely connected to evolving trends in the global drug and spice commerce. After losing his financial support from Wilhelm IV of Hessen-Kassel in 1592, Clusius was drawn to Leiden University. He recognized the growing importance of Dutch shipping in exploring the Far East and saw that the ports of Middelburg and Amsterdam offered access to exotic goods.

This might not have been the first time in his life that he was involved in the drug trade and the associated information market. In the sixteenth century, the drug market’s center shifted from Venice to Antwerp, leading to a transition in scientific printing. Da Orta, Acosta, and Monardes’ works on Asiatic and American plants and drugs were translated and reprinted in Venice and Antwerp. Clusius translated all three into Latin, serving as both a scientist and a disseminator of economic information.

Clusius’ most significant publication on exotic nature is the Exoticorum libri decem of 1605. The second part of his collected works compiles new texts and illustrations about plants and animals from various regions such as the New World, South-East Asia, and Africa. These were mainly gathered by Clusius during the 1590s and 1600s. It includes his translations of Da Orta, Acosta, and Monardes, as well as other shorter texts, appendices, and translations related to nature outside Europe.

This was the first instance in European history where a piece of work focused solely on foreign nature itself, rather than its medical properties. Published at the age of 79, it contains an Appendix to Clusius’ previous writings from four years ago (the Rariorum), listing recent findings without page numbers. The haste to find expressed in these pages represents Clusius’ interest in the strange and his enduring obsession with rare natural specimens. We interpret the term “exotic” broadly, similar to Clusius, by concentrating on exotic natural specimens from Asia, America, and Africa, as well as Clusius’ interactions with them, while also considering those from the Middle East when applicable.

The exhibition and catalog display instances of Clusius’ engagement with exotic items from Leiden University’s collections. The initial two parts focus on Clusius’ association with the Leiden hortus, his published works on foreign nature, and the earliest Dutch journeys to the East Indies. The primary focus of the display revolves around exotic natural specimens found in Clusius’ published works and letters.