Accessions books
The contents of Grunow's own collection (as opposed to the distributed sets of slides also held in Vienna) are described in five accessions books, covering samples:
- 1–1235
- 1236–2056
- 2057– 2521
- 2522–3135
- 3136–3278
The entry for each sample begins with a description of the source, including locality, often the substratum, and who collected it, if not Grunow. Then there is a list of species. Usually, the list is organized into genera, which suggests perhaps that Grunow initially recorded his identifications on separate sheets of paper or in a working notebook, and only later transcribed the list into the main accessions book. However, it seems clear from the complexity and apparent muddle of some entries that Grunow often added to the list later, as he studied material further. A larger image of the page shown above (for sample 862) is available.
Deciphering the accessions books poses formidable challenges, especially for anyone who is not familiar with the German language and German 19th century handwriting and does not have access to a gazetteer to check locality information.
David Mann, August 2009
