The plants and objects collected by Richard Spruce in the Amazon and Andes from 1849 to 1864 form an important botanical, historical and ethnological resource. One of the great Victorian botanical ...

He was educated by his father, who was a teacher. Spruce's interest in natural history dated back to his very early years. At the tender age of 16 he listed the plants of Ganthorpe and by 19 had ...