"2 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



FREDERICK JUSTEN. 



(with portrait.) 



Although not strictly speaking a botanist, the late Frederick 

 Justen was so well known to botanists and toolc so active and 

 intelligent an interest in botanical literature that some notice 

 of him may fitly appear in these pages ; he was moreover a 

 familiar figure at the meetings of the Linnean Society, of which he 

 became a Fellow in 1886. Justen, who was bom at Bonn, Feb. 29, 

 1832, came to England in 1851 and entered the firm of Dulau & Co., 

 of which he ultimately became the sole proprietor. To this firm 

 was added in 1863 the natural history business carried on at 

 45 Frith Street, Soho, by William Pamplin, who retired in that year 

 and of whom an account will be found in this Journal for 1899. 

 When the natural history collections of the British Museum were 

 transferred from Bloomsbury to South Kensington, the formation 

 of the new library was entrusted to Justen ; in tins his interest wa- 

 by no means confined to the commercial aspect, and he was wont 

 to regard with pride the fine collection of books in the Department 

 of Botany, to which he made numerous donations— the last being 

 the magnificent Codex of Dioscorides printed in facsimile and 

 issued at Leyden in 1905 ; he was also much interested in the 

 collection of drawings in the Department, to which he gave various 

 additions. 



Justen's principal service to botany, however, was the part b 

 took in securing for the National Herbarium the splendid set of 

 Welwitsch's Angolan plants, which ranks among the most valuable 

 of its contents. In 1873, Welwitsch by his will, of which Messr- 

 Carruthers and Justen were appointed executors, directed that the 

 study-set of these plants should be offered to the British Museum 

 for purchase. The Portuguese Government, however, claimed the 

 whole of the collections ; the executors resisted this demand, and. 

 at great pecuniary risk to themselves personally, defended a suitm 

 Chancery. After nearly two years a compromise was arrived a' 

 when the Portuguese Government agreed to give to the Museum 

 the next best set after the study-set, which was sent to Lisbon- 

 with a copy of all Welwitsch's notes and descriptions. This was 

 duly carried out ; the collection in the National Herbarium no* 

 represents Welwitsch's work more fully than that at Lisbon, as the 

 latter has been m part distributed to other herbaria. , 



A man of much shrewdness, possessed of a fund of genew 

 information and a considerable knowledge of art and music, Justen 

 was an interesting talker, and a good example of the type of man 

 who while thoroughly capable in business, was not absorbed by 

 it to the exclusion of wider interests. 



For the accompanying excellent portrait we are indebted to his 

 friend and neighbour Mr. Cribb, who is to be congratulated on a 



successful snapshot, as Justen had an objection to being photo- 

 graphed. J 



