Page 50 - La Naturaleza como inspiración

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pieces requested by Dávila had already been sold. Although others remained, particularly the collec- tion of scientific illustrations, Asso had to purchase some items that the Royal Cabinet already had be- cause the sale was by lots and these could not be separated. He continued bidding until he was suc- cessful, and on 31 March informed the prime min- ister that “This invaluable and unique collection in Europe, as my Director rightly says, shall be one of the principal ornaments of the Royal Cabinet.”
The arrival in Madrid of the entire collection is well documented in the national museum of natural sciences, the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Natu- rales (mncn). The first shipment of 16 boxes left Amsterdam on the San Gabriel destined for Bilbao, where it arrived on 13 August. On 3 September it was sent to Madrid unopened and arrived at the Royal Cabinet 11 days later. Three more boxes con- taining the new books purchased by Asso in August were sent to Bilbao in October. These were for- warded to Madrid on 10 November, arriving there on the 21st of the month.
Dávila, who was already very ill, immediately began making an inventory of the collection re- ceived. This would be his last assignment, as he passed away only one month later in early January 1786. The inventory consists of 44 folios6 and is en- titled: Noticia puntual de los dibujos de cuadrúpedos, aves, ynsectos y plantas, y de los libros que han venido de Amsterdam en 16 caxones, comprador todo de or- den del Exmo. Sr. Conde de Floridablanca por Dn Ygnacio de Asso (“Specific notice of the drawings of quadrupeds, birds, insects and plants, and the books that have come from Amsterdam in 16 boxes, all purchased under the order of his Excellency the Count of Floridablanca by Mr Ygnacio de Asso”). The description is very detailed and even specifies the drawing techniques. Some of the items, such as boxes 133 and 134 of naturalised plants, are not in- cluded in the auction catalogue.
THE VAN BERKHEY COLLECTION IN THE REAL JARDÍN BOTÁNICO
The part of the Van Berkhey Collection relating to the plant world is kept among the series of botanical il- lustrations in the care of the royal botanical gardens, the Real Jardín Botánico (RJB) in Madrid. It featured in the auction catalogue as Regnum vegetabile, and includes 27 folders of botanical plates and dry plants.
All the sheets in the auction catalogue referring to grasses are held in the herbarium.
The drawings and engravings form a magnificent collection that stands out from the rest of the hold- ings because it is the result of the work of only one person, international artists were involved in it and it includes different styles, types and techniques.
The exact date on which this collection entered the Real Jardín Botánico is not known. According to a list of collections signed by librarian Vicente E. Bachiller that year, it was still in the mncn library in 1877.7 It probably joined the Real Jardín Botánico in 1903, when the latter separated from the mncn.8
There are a total of 458 drawings, mainly water- colours, and 1,188 prints, including examples of printing from nature, the woodcut technique and intaglio. In total, therefore, there are 1,646 plates or illustrations in the Van Berkhey Collection of the Real Jardín Botánico.
Although plants from many different parts of the world are represented, the vast majority of the plants reproduced are from temperate regions, and in many cases were probably cultivated in various European gardens. Some of the American plants may have come from the east coast of North America, col- lected by the naturalist J. Bartram (1699– 1777) and sent to Peter Collinson (1694–1768), who was a mem- ber of the Royal Society, and were later illustrated by J. Baster (1711–1775), a Dutch botanist and also a member of the Royal Society. There is a predomi- nance of plates from the Compositae family and also a significant numbers of cultivated plants.