PIETER DE LA COURT VAN DER VOORT AND INNOVATIONS IN PINEAPPLE CULTIVATION IN EARLY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GARDENS

摘要

Although there had previously been incidental successes in raising and fruiting individual pineapples, the Dutchman Pieter de la Court van der Voort (1664—1739), from the university town of Leiden, was the first in Europe to raise consistently several hundreds of these exotic and desirable fruit each year. De la Court’s garden was famous at the time and visited by nobles and ambassadors from all over Europe. Peter the Great of Russia visited on several occasions. Not only did these visitors come totaste the pineapples but also they wanted to find out how to cultivate them for themselves, and so add to the distinction of their own garden and table. De la Court published his experiences with gardening and his recommendations for the cultivation ofpineapples in 1737, two years before his death. This paper describes the person and background of De la Court and, using some previously unpublished letters from the archives of Leiden, Amsterdam and St Petersburg, explores his contacts with the courts of England, France and Russia. It then examines the factors contributing to De la Court’s success, including his experiments with the design of heated glasshouses and the importance of weather glasses or thermometers. Some new information is given aboutDe la Court’s gardener, Willem de Vinck, and particular attention is paid to De la Court’s friendship with Dr Herman Boerhaave.