THE ARCHIVE OF PROFESSOR DR. W.H. DE VRIESE CONCERNING HIS INVESTIGATION INTO THE NETHERLANDS INDIES CULTIVATIONS, 1857-1862

Willem Henrik de Vriese was Professor of Botany in Amsterdam in 1834 and in Leiden in 1845. De Vriese specialized in East Indies flora, using herbarium material and live material in the University Botanical Gardens, the Hortus Botanicus, in Leiden. As a botanist De Vriese had long provided advice about the cultivation of export crops in the East and West Indies. In 1857, at the instigation of the Minister, De Vriese was named by the king to do three years of research into agriculture in the East Indies, particularly on Java. De Vriese arrived in the East Indies in January 1858 and traveled widely until the end of 1859, visiting a great many residencies and principalities on many islands. In March 1861, De Vriese returned to the Netherlands. He never completed his report, for he died January 23, 1862. He left, however, an extensive archive which was purchased by the Ministry of the Colonies. Mr. A. M. Tempelaars organized, classified, and inventoried the collection in such a way as to make it completely accessible.