Intercontinental Connections

To the Garets Amsterdam and London provided almost equally favourable settings for the development of connections which spanned the world. Since the very early 1580s at the latest and until at least the first years of the seventeenth century James Jr was very well informed about (and in several cases personally connected with) the voyages of British explorers. He managed to obtain many exotic naturalia that they brought back, gathered information about their names and uses, had access to manuscripts, printed works and early translations about the voyages and exotic naturalia, and was kept informed about the careers of the most important English commanders. He also tested and used new drugs in his professional preparations, and grew various newly imported plants in his garden.

In January 1584, for instance, James Garet Jr reported to Clusius that the voyage of John Drake (cousin of Francis) and Edward Fenton, which had set out for the East Indies and China in 1582, had not been a success. They had not gone further than Brazil, but nonetheless had ‘brought back many beautiful things and I have made it my duty to get my hands on as many of them as I have been able to obtain for money’ (J. Garet Jr, 26 January 1583, Old Style).