22 septembre 2015
Esther Helena Arens, « “The Blind Seer” and his Hands: The Relation of Image and Knowledge in Botany », Botanical Letters, ID : 10670/1.ovd7hp
In one of the preliminary texts to the Amboinsche Kruidboek (Ambonese Herbal), its author Rumphius described his physical blindness as a consequence of prolonged exposure to the equatorial sun: “This walking in the heat of the Sun caused my sight to be struck to such an extent by a Suffusion or Cataracta Nigra, that I had lost most of it within three months.” (Preface “To the Reader”, English translation by E.M. Beekman, vol. I, p. 176) This explanation has been picked up when Rumphius was re...