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Some additional etymological information – Part III (1 Viewer)

So what about the Bee-eater ... (and now, on this one, I´m only curious, as this bird is not in my MS, of the Swedish Common Bird names, it´s rödstrupig biätare, in Swedish, in line with its English Common name)

• Red-throated Bee-eater "Merops Bulocki" VIEILLOT 1817 (here), no dedication, no explanation ... simply based on Levaillant's "La guépier Bulock" 1807 (here and Plate here), with no scientific name, note it´s written "La guépier Buloch" , in the List of Content, in the same work (here)!
Cette espece se trouve au Sénégal. On en voit un bel individu dans notre Muséum de Paris, ou il vient d'ètre tout nouvellement échangé par M. Bulock, posseseur à Londres. d'une collection très précieuse d'oiseaux, dans laquelle il a rassemblé les especes plus rares.
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The thing that disturbes me (but only slightly ;)) is that William Bullock (Senior) didn´t live in London that early, not in 1807! In 1807 he was still a provincial jeweller and silversmith in Liverpool (however already at that point with a large collection of curiosities and various Naturalia). He didn´t move to London (Londres) until 1809.

In 1817 when Vieillot coined the scientific name "Merops bulocki" Mr. William Bullock was a celebrated Showman, and the talk-of-the-Town, in London, thereby easy to associate with what Levaillant wrote above. But what if it´s just a contemporary misinterpretation!? And that Levaillant did intend it for a Monsieur Bulock (alt. Buloch), with single-l ... ?

Also note that in the UK Genealogy thread (link in Post #15) they found some names written "Bulloch" (for examples, see their posts #25 & 27), most likely both (all?) contemporary variations of Bullock.

However; this possible (but unlikely?!) misinterpretation was even more easy to do when William Bullock was even more well-known in London (and all of England), when Temminck (supposedly in 1824, however not found, by me!) according to Donovan (in 1826, here) called it "Merops Bullockii".

If we´re to trust text text by Donovan it can be as simple as this bird was introduced to the ornithological community by the well-known Lord Stanley (at Knowlsey, near Liverpool) who did have contact with Mr. Bullock pre-1807 (i.e. at that time bying bird skins, stuffed specimens and live birds from him). If so it would most likely, truly be "our" William Bullock (Senior) that Levaillant was commemorating, even if he got the name wrong and (erroneously) wrote it with a single-l. Certainly that´s the most likely scenario.

I strongly doubt that the Merops Bee-eater would benefit/deserve a "bullockiorum" as well (as been hinted). In 1807 William Bullock junior surely couldn´t have made much of a mark in Natural History? Simply due to his young age, at that point, with a Father born around 1773, he couldn´t have been more than just a kid.

Anyone disagree? On either one?

However; the latter bird not to confuse with "Merops Bullockoides" SMITH 1834 (here), listed directly below "Merops Bullockii".

Björn
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Anyone who know where to find Temminck's "Merops Bullockii", mentioned by Donovan in 1826 (supposedly published in 1824, in "Planches coloriées")?

I´ve tried to find it in Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d'oiseaux : ... etc., (Originally issued in 102 parts, 1820-1839), and sometimes referred to as simply "Planches coloriées", ... but, this far, no luck.

Anyone luckier, or with better knowledge, than me?
 
Mark, there´re are several notes of, and publications including, the scientific name M. "Bulocki" (all post-Vieillot 1817, see OD, in Post #21), the one I´m looking for is the very first use of it written "Bullockii" (with double-l).

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Yes I know, Laurent, I did check the Richmond Cards, earlier on, ages ago (when I started to look into Bullock), but the way I read Donovan's text it says otherwise, doesn´t it?

But who knows, maybe Donovan's text left the printer before Temminck's ditto. Or, as in other cases, it could have been spelled this way by Temminck, but only in MS, and never, ever published (in his name).

Who knows?

Björn

PS. Just for the fun (or beuty) of it; the (untitled) Plate CXXXVII (137), mentioned in Donovan's text, here.
And; Le Guépier a Gorge Rouge ou Le Guépier Bulock, (no scientific name) from Histoire naturelle des promerops, et des guêpiers: ..., by Levaillant, 1807, here.
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Björn, you've been using "guépier" with the acute accent but Levaillant's book, which you linked to, uses "guèpier" with the grave accent. Although you have to look closely to see that.

I looked closely because I was under the impression that the correct spelling in French was "guêpier" with the circumflex accent. Which it is, today. Perhaps things were different 200 years ago.

Yes, I know that French isn't one of your favourite languages.
 
Levaillant uses a circumflex, as we indeed do nowadays. (It can be easier to see it in the text than in the titles.)

Circumflexes in French very often indicate a lost 's' after the letter that bears them: guêpier derives from guêpe (a wasp), which itself derives from the Latin vespa.
(Wasp in English, wesp in Dutch, Wespe in German, etc., all have the same origin. It's also wasp in Swedish, I believe.)


Björn, my impression is that the most parcimonious explanation may be that Donovan simply got his authorships mixed, and cited the name from Temminck instead of from Vieillot, using the spelling he thought to be appropriate. I find no other authors citing this name from Temminck.
 
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Paul Clapham said:
...
Yes, I know that French isn't one of your favourite languages.
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Nope, Paul, then you know wrong. French is one of my favorite languages! I simply don´t understand it. ;)

And, Laurent, your perfectly right, if looked at very closely; Levaillant did use a circumflex, in both texts of 1807. Not guépier, nor gùepier, but guêpier.

That´s maybe the smallest circumflex I´ve ever seen!

Well spotted! And thanks for putting me/us straight.

Björn

PS. But, at least I did got it right, in the title of Histoire naturelle des promerops, et des guêpiers: ...
 
Of minor importance, but as we´re in a correcting mood ... ;)
l_raty said:
It's also wasp in Swedish, I believe.).
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Nope, it´s; geting in Swedish, but we do have vespa in some dialects (from the German Wespe). Same as the generic name for the European hornet Vespa crabro LINNAEUS 1761 (bålgeting in Swedish).

No links to the Vespa scooter, by Piaggio.
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A bit stuck ...

Repeated question, as this book isn´t to be found in any Swedish Libraries (and it´s pretty expensive):

Anyone who have read, or have access to, this book?

William Bullock: Connoisseur and Virtuoso of the Egyptian Hall : Piccadilly to Mexico (1773-1849), by Michael P. Costeloe. HiPLAM monograph series, Bristol: 2008. Pp viii, 244; illustrated (16 colour plates).

It seems to be (?) the most thorough one written on William Bullock (Senior) ... or; is anything additional found (regarding the birth of Bullock Senior or whatever on his Son) in this Paper (in Spanish)? Also written by the late Professor Michael P. Costeloe (1939–2011), formerly of University of Bristol.

Apparently, according to various recently updated web-pages, Bullock Senior was "Bapt." (Baptised) in 1773. Does that claim maybe origin from Mr. Costeloe's texts?
 
Checked some of Ulf Bankmanns publications about Ferdinand Deppe e.g.
A Prussian in Mexican California: Ferdinand Deppe, Horticulturist, Collector for European Museums, Trader and Artist
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He is mentioned in there several times but unfortunately with no dates. We find in there e.g.:

This mine belongs to Mr. W . Bullock from London, whose son is presently in Mexico for the second time, after - as you know - having published a description of his first journey.
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Bankmann refered also to a publication:

Graham, Ian 1993 "Three Early Collectors in Mesoamerica." In: Elizabeth Hill Boone, ed., Collecting the Pre-Columbian Past, A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 6th and 7th October 1990, 49-80. Washington, D .C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.
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Or Biographies of People for Whom Birds Have Been Named from Raymond Foster Miller (1887-1974) of any help?
 
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Calalp said:
is anything additional found (regarding the birth of Bullock Senior or whatever on his Son) in this Paper (in Spanish)? Also written by the late Professor Michael P. Costeloe (1939–2011), formerly of University of Bristol.
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At the bottom of the first page of that paper it says (in Spanish):

For details about the Bullock family, see COSTELOE, "William Bullock".
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The first page does say that William was the fourth child, but no more than that. Then on page 3 it mentions "William hijo" (William Junior) with no preliminary introduction, again implying that we should look to that other book for details.
 
Excellent, James, and until we´ll know what Costeloe found out, let´s have a quick look at the rest of Bullock's birds (all listed in Post #11).

This far it´s quite obvious that Icterus bullockii/("bullockorum")/bullockiorum does commemorate 2 X William Bullock (both Senior and Junior). And I think we´ve taken "Bullock's Bee-eater" Merops bulocki (ex Le Guêpier Bulock) far enough, as far as we can (i.e. on the net). I don´t expect that there is much more to find on that bird. Surely, in my mind, it does commemorate William Bullock (Senior) alone.

And what about the rest ...

• the invalid " P. [Procellaria] Bullockii" FLEMING 1828 (here) [Syn. Leach's Storm-Petrel Cymochorea leucorhoa/Hydrobates leucorhous VIEILLOT 1818]:
"An undescribed Petrel, with a forked tail, taken at St Kilda in 1818, Bullock's Sale Cat. 8th day, No. 78"
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... most likely from the 26-day-long Auction Sale of William Bullock's (i.e senior's) huge collection, in 1819*, also see here ... either way:
= William Bullock (Senior), all Auctions was done in his name alone.


• the invalid "P. [Pica] Bullockii" WAGLER 1827 (here) [Syn. White-throated Magpie-Jay Calocitta formosa/Cyanocorax formosus SWAINSON 1827]:
"Habitat in Mexico, unde a cl. Bullock missa; avis speciosa"
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... meaning ?


And finally; the odd one out (not connected in any way to either one of the two William Bullock):

• the subspecies Aphrastura spinicauda bullocki CHAPMAN 1934 (here, pp.2-3): "D. S. Bullock"
= The US Missionary (in Chile) Dr. Dillman Samuel Bullock (1878–1971); here alt. here, here, here, here, here ... or elsewhere. He, and his wife "Katie" (née Kelly), is pretty easy to find.

If "Lytle" ever was part of his true name/surname (as claimed in today's HBW Alive Key or here) is however unknown to me! Note that the latter link puts the "Lytle" part at the end of his name ... !? It´s also placed at the end of his name, in the (Spanish!) text, in the Obituary/in memoriam of "Dillman. S. Bullock", here. Also note that his Mother was Nelly Elisabeth Lytle.


Well, that´s it!

Now we wait for James, to sort out the birth of William Bullock (Senior). And hopefully, maybe, even someting additional on the unknown Junior!?

/B
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*Sale Catalogue of the Bullock Museum 1819: (Facsimile reprint in 1979) "... with manuscript prices and buyers names" (here) ... unseen by me! (The auction of Bullock's Mexican collection, that allowed Swainson to have a look at the Oriole, was held in September 1825)
 
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"P. [Pica] Bullockii" WAGLER 1827

I had no luck in trying to find Wagler's "type" (nor did I find this specimen in any "Leadbeater's collection"). However I assume that "illustrious" would indicate that Wagler had the, at that time, well-known Bullock Senior in mind.

In Birds of America 1842 Audubon quoted Bonaparte's comment (in (French) regarding Wagler's "Pica Bullockii" (here), as well in his Ornithological Biography of 1832 (here). Also see Vigors comments from 1831 (here).

Does either one help in any way?

And what about the bird mentioned as "Calocitta bullockii (not Pica bullockii Wagler)", here, ... which is a bird described by Sclater 1858 (here), from Honduras! Or did Sclater only thought it/they was/were the same? And today the latter is simply an invalid preoccupied name for of the subspecies Calocitta formosa pompata/Cyanocorax formosus pompatus BANGS 1914 ... or?

If so, it´s not listed among the synonyms in the Key.

/B
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From Costelloe MP. 2006. William Bullock and the Mexican Connection. Mex. Stud., 22:275-309. (cf. Martin's post #14 above):

William, Sr:
- on p.276:
William Bullock died on March 7, 1849 at his home at 14 Halsey Terrace, Chelsea, London. (1)
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1. E.P. Alexander located Bullock’s death certificate at Chelsea Register Office, from which I obtained a copy. See E.P. Alexander, “William Bullock: little remembered Museologist and Showman,” Curator 28: 2 (1985): 146. Bullock was buried on March 16, 1849 in the number two vault under the chapel at St. Mary’s Church, Chelsea. The vault no longer exists, and no headstone or plaque was erected. There is still some doubt about his age. The death certificate gives his age as 76, but the burial register, now held at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Kensal Green, London, has it as 75. There are other sources, such as parish registers, that give a possible birth year of 1770, which would have made him 79 when he died. His estate was valued at less than £600; Family Record Centre (London), Estate Duty Registers, Class IR26/1826, No. 391, ff.79–81.
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William, Jr:
- p.298:
Little or nothing is known about his son William’s early years. His date of birth has not been found, and we know nothing of his education or occupation until the early 1820s, when he begins to appear as an assistant to his father in his various exhibitions at the Egyptian Hall.
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However, note, on p.297:
Bullock [...] had two children, a son, William, and a daughter, Anne Elizabeth, by his first wife. She died in 1801, and a verse in her memory was published in The Gentleman’s Magazine in January 1802 (63), under the by-line “Hafiz,” and presumably sent in by Bullock himself. (81)
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81. Mrs. Ann Bullock died at the age of 26 on Saturday, December 5, 1801 in Liverpool, apparently after only a few hours of illness. Her death was reported in Billinge’s Liverpool Advertiser, December 7, 1801, 3. Hafiz (Arabic for Observer) was one of the noms de plumes used by the Irish poet, Thomas Stott of Dromore. How Bullock was able to arrange for him to compose the verse is not known.[...]
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...which obviously sets an upper limit to his birth date. For the record, Anne Elizabeth was born on 14 Feb 1800 (p.300).

- p.300:
As we have seen, the mining operations were ended in September, and Bullock Sr. was in Mexico City in October, beginning his preparations to leave the country. He left in March 1827 but, and we lack specific information about this, it seems that his son stayed in Mexico. We have no information on what he intended to do, and as his friend Deppe had already left the capital for Veracruz and Europe in November, his whereabouts and intentions are unknown. It has been stated that soon afterwards, possibly again on one of his naturalist expeditions, he caught yellow fever and died. (91) If this was the case, we have no details of where and when it happened, nor where he was buried.
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91. Leask, Curiosity and the Aesthetics of Travel Writing, 310. Unfortunately, Professor Leask does not give a source for his statement about William Bullock’s death and I have been unable to find any reference to confirm it.
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