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Pseudocolaptes johnsoni (1 Viewer)

Taphrospilus

Well-known member
I think this might be an easy one for our swedish guys here.

In HWB Alive it is written:

A. A. Johnson (fl. 1922) Swedish Consul-Gen. in Thailand 1911-1912 and Ecuador 1922 (syn. Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii orientalis, subsp. Pseudocolaptes lawrencii, subsp. Rubigula melanictera).

I agree about the dedication as in the original description it is written:

We have taken the pleasure of naming it for Consul General Axel Ax:son Johnson, who at many opportunities kindly has promoted the interests of the museum. OD

I am generally wondering how his second name was written as ''Ax:son'' . What is the reason for the colon? Son of Ax?

at Wikipedia as well as ''Ax:son''.
 
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Björn would certainly know better, but according to the "Colon (punctuation)" page of Wikipedia:
Abbreviation
In Swedish, the colon is used in contractions, such as S:t for Sankt (Swedish for "Saint"), e.g. in the Stockholm metro station S:t Eriksplan. This can even occur in people's names, for example Antonia Ax:son Johnson (Ax:son for Axelson). The colon was also used to mark abbreviations in early modern English.
 
Well, Martin, first of all; you´ve got the right guy, and Laurent's explanation of the Swedish use of colon is as good as mine ...

He did write his name Axel Ax:son Jonsson, however it is pronounced (whenever spoken or articulated) as "Axelsson".

He was a well-known Swedish industrialist, ship owner etc. etc. ... born in 1876 and died in 1958. I´ve never seen any case when he (or someone else) ever used, or wrote, his name other than "Axel Ax:son Jonsson" ... that is, so far, he´s still on my list of eponyms to check in depth.

In any case; he wasn´t General Consul in Thailand, but for Thailand (in Stockholm, Sweden) from 1911, before that he was a "regular" Siamese Consul (from 1901) for the same Siam/Thailand (also in Stockholm) ... that much I know. He simply prepared and helped organizing Gyldenstolpes expeditions to Thailand …

Not to be confused with (which is easily done) his oldest son and namesake; Axel Ax:son Johnson, 1910–1988, who took over most of his father's firms, titles … and the Thai consulate.

The "Antonia Ax:son Johnson" mentioned in Laurent's reply is the daughter and grand-daughter of the 2 X Axel Ax:son Jonsson's. She´s still today a Major Industrialist in Sweden.

Thereby I hope we´ve answered the Ax:son name ...

However I don´t know his connection to Ecuador [nor exactly why he was commemorated in the South American species (or subspecies) Pseudocolaptes (lawrencii) johnsoni], neither if he ever was Consul of that country as well, he might have (or not!?, it could simply have been a friendly gesture by Lönnberg to on old sponsor of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in Stockholm), I don´t know, ... yet.

The full entry on him (in my MS) is still way ahead …

I hope this reply is enough, if not; any particular parts your looking for?

Björn

PS. And just for the fun of it: the type specimen of the bird in question is found here!
x
 
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I think HBW Alive should in this case be adjusted again with name Axel Ax:son Jonsson (1876-1958). I totally agree that he was not consul in Thailand. I came to the same conclusion due to the second dedication to him "Pycnonotus flaviventris johnsoni" (Gyldenstolpe, 1913). In OD it is described as Syn: ''Rubigula johnsoni''. Some pages earlier here is written:

In conclusion I also want to express publicly my deepest gratitude to the Siamese Consul-General in Stockholm Mr. Axel A:son Johnson and Mr. K. A. Wallenberg, who both with greatest generosity defrayed all the costs for the Expedition.
 
Just for completness in HBW Alive. David H. Johnson (b. 1912) is DAVID HORN JOHNSON (1912-1996). A short CV is here page 171.

The other might be Hon. George Randall Johnson
1833–1919
as in Collections held by the Suffolk Record Office relating to Australia and New Zealand [M982] is written: George Randall Johnson of Wellington, N.Z. (1882); Cullum collection of letters from botanists, entymologists, zoologists 1771-1831, including letters from Charles Miller in Sumatra, Daines Barrington, Michael Lort and others, referring to Captain Cook.
 
So here we have an example of it being written another way...:
In conclusion I also want to express publicly my deepest gratitude to the Siamese Consul-General in Stockholm Mr. Axel A:son Johnson and Mr. K. A. Wallenberg, who both with greatest generosity defrayed all the costs for the Expedition.
;)
 
Martin, Thank you for the new reference. My original point of call was Whittell, 1954, The Literature of Australian Birds, p. 382 (where no life dates are given, or that Johnson was the illustrious cricketer!) I assume that he emigrated to New Zealand in 1866 via Australia, where he collected the cassowary. I will adjust HBWAlive Key accordingly.
 
A short return to Gyldenstolpe's and Lönnberg's johnsoni

I think HBW Alive should in this case be adjusted again ... :
This far I agree (and in most of the rest) ;), but:

His names was Axel Ax:son Johnson.

Gyldenstolpe's "A:son", from 1913, is apparently the exception that proves the rule.

And; sorry for my many inconsequent (sloppy!) various spellings of his name in post No. #3 ... like I said, I hadn´t done my homework, simply responded (from the hip) on the question regarding Ax:son.

Here´s an example from Vem är vem inom handel och industri? 1944–45 [A Swedish Who´s Who? in Trade and Industri …] (attached) .

If the meaning of "Ax:son" should be mentioned at all (not necessary I think, as it was never written, only pronounced) it ought to be written "Axelsson" in the traditional Swedish way (we usually, in Swedish names ending with -son) write it with the genitive s (in this case i.e Axel's son). His father was Axel Johnson (1844–1910), see link (here).

I guess the "anglification" of their last name "Johnson" (with h and single s!) could be a way of looking more international, "in ways of the world". Axel Johnson's father, and Axel Ax:son Johnson's grandfather, was (apparently) Carl Johan Jonsson, a simple saddlemaker, way before fame and fortune. However I will check it out in detail further on.

And I still haven´t figured out his connection to Ecuador. He was, like I said Siamese (Thai) Consul from 1901, General Consul from 1911 ... and all the way till his death, in 1958 (see link here)… like his father, and son, as well as grandson …. which make me doubt that he ever was Consul of any other country (double services is quite rare in such positions) … other than that I don´t know. Yet.

A more thourough entry on him (and the other Swedes commemorated in various eponyms) is on its way … but way, way ahead.
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Slight amendment on Axel Ax:son Johnson!

How I hate to admit that I once again was too quick and too self-confident (i.e. slow and self-deceptive), at least not self-critical enough … the matter of how his name was written wasn´t as easy as I thought!
:h?:
The utterly reliable Dictionary of Swedish National Biography, published by Riksarkivet, the National Archives of Sweden (here) writes his name: Axel Axelson Johnson, (sigh!) ... but adds in the first sentence that he himself changed it to, and wrote it; Axel Ax:son Johnson (as in the attached photo).

The latter version, Axel Ax:son Johnson, is for sure, what I would use! That is how he was known.

However, since there apparently are some uncertainty and contradictions (regarding the former version, the one without the colon, Axelson vs Axelsson), I don't think the last word is said in this matter. I assume I will have to check up his birth certificate, to really figure it out ... whenever time allows.

This seemingly easy thread starts to feel like a TV-series:

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Sorry for the confusion!
:scribe:
Björn

PS. In any case there´s not a single word in Axel Ax:son Johnson's long biography (the link above) of him ever, nor in 1922, being Consul for Ecuador, thereby I think it is fair to assume that never had that title in connection to Ecuador. This far I tend to trust my own speculation earlier; " it could simply have been a friendly gesture by Lönnberg to on old sponsor of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, in Stockholm". But who knows?
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Mr Ax:son Johnson's two (or three) birds ... ?

Sorry to return to this old thread ... but the thing is; in the notes for my MS I (only) have:

• "Rubigula johnsoni" GYLDENSTOLPE 1913 (here) = today's debated, hard-to-placed subspecies (Otocompsa/Rubigula) Pycnonotus flaviventris/melanictera/melanicterus johnsoni GYLDENSTOLPE 1913. Type specimen here.

• "Pseudocolaptes johnsoni" LÖNNBERG 1922 (here) = today's equally debated Pseudocolaptes (lawrencii/boissonneautii) johnsoni LÖNNBERG 1922. Type specimen here.

But compared with the entry in today's HBW Alive Key, it looks like I´m missing one, doesn´t it?:
johnsoni / johnsonii
[...]
● Axel Axelsson [*] Johnson (1876-1958) Swedish Consul-Gen. for Thailand 1911-1912 ... (Pseudocolaptes, syn. Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii oberholseri, subsp. Pycnonotus flaviventris).

One valid species, one synonym and one subspecies!?

What (or which one) have I missed?

Björn
_____________________________
*Either way; I (still, stubbornly) claim that the most proper way to write the name of the dedicatee is Axel Ax:son Johnson ;) or the alternate (but only rarely used) version Axel Axelson Johnson (i.e. as in Post #10). Either way, there's no double-s, (which is quite uncommon in Sweden) in either version of his name/s.

For examples, see; here, here, here and here (the latter two in Swedish). This said (still, sigh) without having found time to check the original birth records.
 
Still no-one who has figured out which bird is the third one (of the ones commemorating Axel Ax:son Johnson) listed in today's Key?

Grateful for any reply!
:scribe:
Björn
 
Aren't there only two birds listed in the Key? See Avibase. Also, Avibase gives Lönnberg & Rendahl 1922 as the citation for Pseudocolaptes johnsoni not Lönnberg 1922
Mike, only two? The way I count them in today's HBW Alive Key gives me: 1. a valid species in Pseudocolaptes, 2. a synonym of Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii oberholseri, and 3. a subspecies of Pycnonotus flaviventris ... so, no. Why? Have I gone stupid?

Either way; regarding the Author(s) and the citation, sure, "Lönnberg & Rendahl 1922" is used in many (most?) references, but in my MS the protonym of this bird was/is "Pseudocolaptes johnsoni" LÖNNBERG 1922 (here), possibly with the addition "in Lönnberg & Rendahl 1922", as the very start of this Paper (page 1, here) begins with the following phrases:
The following paper is based on collections, which at several occasions have been presented to the R. Nat. Hist. Museum in Stockholm by Mr. LUDOVICO SÖDERSTRÖM, Royal Swedish Consul in Quito. In the year 1921 the Museum received 1836 specimens, and some years ago a large and very valuable collection of Colibris was presented by Consul Söderström and then classified and named by LÖNNBERG.
This bird was one of those collected by Ludovico Söderström, at Baeza (road to Napo), Eastern Ecuador (12th December 1913). And Hjalmar Rendahl simply assisted Einar Lönnberg in compiling the paper.

That´s my point of view.

Björn
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Björn,
Reporting, as an inmate, from the asylum, I can confirm that insanity cannot be transmitted on BirdForum! I have searched everywhere for "syn. Pseudocolaptes boissonneautii oberholseri" but am unable to locate the source. I shall repair the Key, then go and rest in a darkened room!
 
That´s my point of view.

Björn
-

Björn

Your view on the authorshop of johnsoni agrees with that of Alan Peterson in the comment given, oddly, under the HBW Alive entry for Pseudocolaptes lawrencii (rather than the entry for P. johnsoni):

Authority for the taxon johnsoni
Submitted by Alan Peterson on August 17, 2014 - 04:17
Conventionally the taxon johnsoni is attributed (as here) to "Lonnberg & Rendahl".

On p.1 of the work containing the description, it states:

"[the collection] was classified and named by LÖNNBERG."

It is my interpretation that the authority for the name should be be "Lonnberg in Lonnberg & Rendahl".

Following the convention used in HBW, I believe the authority should be listed as "Lonnberg".

Despite this argument, both the IOC and HBW Alive continue to give Lönnberg and Rendahl as authors of johnsoni.

Mike
 
Thanks Mike, I hadn't seen that one.

Support by Alan Peterson (I assume it´s the Zoonomen one) ... not bad!

Björn

PS. Why HBW Alive placed the quote below Pseudocolaptes lawrencii RIDGWAY 1878 is however beyond my understanding. Left behind, from a time, prior to a split?
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Björn

Does the use of "We" in the OD (pages 69–70) not suggest that both authors should be credited?

We have taken the pleasure of naming it for Consul General Axel Axrsox Johnson, who at many opportunities kindly has promoted the interests of this Museum.
Mike
 
Mike, it could, or not, as "we" in those days doesn´t necessarily was used in a plural sense. Several similar (countless) examples are known, of singular, somewhat remarkable, men (and even more so among Nobility) who was writing about themselves as "we". Today an outdated practise.

This far I´ll stick to my version.

Björn

PS. By the way, there´s a typo in your quote; "Pseudocolaptes johnsoni" is commemorating: "Consul General AXEL AX:SON JOHNSON".
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