TORREYA 



June, 1917. 

 Vol. 17 No. 6 



WILLIAM YOUNG, JR., OF PHILADELPHIA, 

 QUEEN'S BOTANIST 



By John \V. Harshberger 



There appeared in 1916 a reprint of "Catalogue d'Arbres 

 Arbustes et Plantes Herbacees d'Amerique," published in Paris 

 in 1783 by William Young, Jr. The reprint is entitled "Botanica 

 Neglecta, William Young, Jr. (of Philadelphia) 'Botaniste de 

 Pennsylvania' and his Long-Forgotten Book being a Facsimile 

 Reprint of his 'Catalogue d'Arbres Arbustes et Plantes Herbacees 

 d'Amerique' published in Paris in 1783 with Prefatory Account 

 of the Author and critical notes by the Editor Samuel N. 

 Rhoads." Privately printed, Philadelphia, 19 16. The copy of 

 William Young's Catalogue which forms the basis of this reprint 

 first came to the attention of Mr. Rhoads, the editor, while 

 looking over a price-list of old books, issued in August, 1915, by 

 a dealer in Scotland. It was obscurely listed, but Mr. Rhoads 

 was fortunate in securing the copy bound in with a copy of 

 Marshall's "Arbustrum Americanum." 



Mr. Rhoads with the true interest of the bibliophile, then 

 tried to find out something about William Young (Yong), Jr. 

 References were found to him in the two volumes of Smith's 

 "Linnaean Correspondence." This correspondence was carried 

 on betw^een Linnaeus, John Ellis, Peter Collinson, Dr. Fother- 

 gill and others. John Bartram refers to Young in the corre- 

 spondence published in William Darlington's "Memorials of 

 John Bartram and Humphry Marshall," Philadelphia, 1849. 

 The editor of the reprint, Mr. Rhoads, then had recourse to the 

 family records of the Darby Road Youngs and to his will found 



[No. 5, Vol. 17, of ToRREYA, comprising pp. 69-89, was issued 2 June, 191 7] 



91 



