View source for Constantine Samuel Rafinesque

{{Short description|French polymath and naturalist (1783–1840)}}
{{redirect|Raf.|other uses|RAF (disambiguation){{!}}RAF}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
|image = Rafinesque Constantine Samuel 1783-1840.png
|image_size = 150px
|caption = 
|birth_name = Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
|birth_date = {{birth date|1783|10|22|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Galata]], [[Constantinople]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1840|09|18|1783|10|22|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, US
|nationality = French
|field = [[Biologist]]
|author_abbrev_bot = Raf.
}}

'''Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz''' ({{IPA|fr|kɔ̃stɑ̃tin(ə) samɥɛl ʁafinɛsk(ə)ʃmalts}}) (October 22, 1783 – September 18, 1840) was a French [[polymath]] of the early 19th century. Born near [[Constantinople]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]], he was self-educated in France.

As a young man, Rafinesque-Schmaltz traveled to the United States, eventually settling in Ohio in 1815. There, he made significant contributions to botany, zoology, and the study of [[Mound Builders|prehistoric earthworks in North America]]. Beyond his previous extensive work in Europe, he also contributed to the study of ancient  [[Mesoamerican languages|Mesoamerican linguistics]].

Rafinesque was an eccentric and erratic genius.<ref>{{harvnb|Flannery|1998}}</ref> He was an [[autodidact]], who excelled in various fields of knowledge, as a zoologist, botanist, writer and [[Polyglot (person)|polyglot]]. He wrote prolifically on such diverse topics as anthropology, biology, geology, and linguistics, but was honored in none of these fields during his lifetime. An outcast in the American scientific community, his submissions were automatically rejected by leading journals. Among his theories were that ancestors of Native Americans had migrated by the Bering Sea from Asia to North America,<ref>{{harvnb|Long|2005}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gilbert|1999}}</ref> and that the Americas were populated by black indigenous peoples at the time of European contact.{{sfn|Rafinesque|1833|p=85}}

The [[Author citation (botany)|standard author abbreviation]] '''Raf.''' is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.{{R|IPNI}}

==Biography==
Rafinesque was born on 22 October 1783,<ref name="Belyi">{{harnvb|Belyi|1997}}</ref> in [[Galata]], a suburb of Constantinople.<ref name="Fitzpatrick_p11">{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=11}}</ref><ref name="appletons"/> His father, F. G. Rafinesque, was a French merchant from [[Marseille]]; his mother, M. Schmaltz, was of German descent and born in Constantinople.<ref name="Fitzpatrick_p11"/> His father died in [[Philadelphia]] about 1793.<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=12}}</ref> Rafinesque spent his youth in Marseille,<ref name="Fitzpatrick_p11"/> and was mostly self-educated; he never attended university.<ref>[http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=518 Discovering Lewis & Clark: biography of Rafinesque] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231002811/http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=518 |date=31 December 2013 }}; accessed : 17 November 2010</ref><ref>[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1985/4/1985_4_58.shtml "The oddest of characters"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108135020/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1985/4/1985_4_58.shtml |date=8 January 2009 }}, ''American Heritage'', April 1985; accessed 17 November 2010.</ref> By the age of 12, he had begun collecting plants for an [[herbarium]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=13}}</ref> By 14, he had taught himself Greek and Latin because he needed to follow footnotes in the books he was reading in his paternal grandmother's libraries. In 1802, at the age of 19, Rafinesque sailed to Philadelphia in the United States with his younger brother. They traveled through [[Pennsylvania]] and [[Delaware]],<ref name="appletons">{{Cite Appletons'|wstitle=Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel|year=1900}}</ref> where he made the acquaintance of most of the young nation's few botanists.<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|pp=15–17}}</ref>

In 1805, Rafinesque returned to Europe with his collection of botanical specimens, and settled in [[Palermo]], Sicily, where he learned Italian.<ref name="appletons"/><ref name="Fitzpatrick_p19">{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=19}}</ref> He became so successful in trade that he retired by age 25 and devoted his time entirely to natural history. For a time Rafinesque also worked as secretary to the American consul.<ref name="Fitzpatrick_p19"/> During his stay in Sicily, he studied plants and fishes,<ref name="Belyi"/> naming many newly discovered species of each. He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1808.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter R|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterR.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

===Career in the United States===
Rafinesque had a [[Common-law marriage|common-law wife]]. After their son died in 1815, he left her and returned to the United States. When his ship ''Union'' foundered near the coast of Connecticut, he lost all his books (50 boxes) and all his specimens (including more than 60,000 [[mollusc shell|shells]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Rafinesque |first=C. S. |year=1836 |title=Life of Travels |url=https://archive.org/details/lifeoftravelsres00rafi |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lifeoftravelsres00rafi/page/46 46]–49}} Cited in {{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|pp=21–22}}.</ref> Settling in New York, Rafinesque became a founding member of the newly established [[Lyceum of Natural History]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|pp=22–24}}</ref> In 1817, his book ''{{ill|Florula Ludoviciana|es}} or A Flora of the State of Louisiana'' was strongly criticized by fellow botanists, which caused his writings to be ignored. By 1818, he had collected and named more than 250 new species of plants and animals. Slowly, he was rebuilding his collection of objects from nature.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In the summer of 1818, in [[Henderson, Kentucky]], Rafinesque made the acquaintance of fellow naturalist [[John James Audubon]], and stayed in Audubon's home for some three weeks. Audubon, although enjoying Rafinesque's company, took revenge upon him (for an incident where Rafinesque damaged one of Audubon's prized violins) by describing fantastic, made-up species, prompting Rafinesque to publish descriptions of them.{{sfn|Rhodes|2004|pp=133–135}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=MARKLE |first=DOUGLAS F. |date=October 1, 1997 |title=Audubon's hoax: Ohio River fishes described by Rafinesque |journal=Archives of Natural History |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=439–447 |doi=10.3366/anh.1997.24.3.439 |issn=0260-9541}}</ref>

In 1819, Rafinesque became professor of botany at [[Transylvania University]] in [[Lexington, Kentucky]], where he also gave private lessons in French, Italian, and Spanish.<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|pp=27–28}}</ref> He was loosely associated with John D. Clifford, a merchant who was also interested in the ancient earthworks that remained throughout the Ohio Valley. Clifford conducted archival research, seeking the origins of these mounds, and Rafinesque measured and mapped them. Some had already been lost to American development.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

He was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1820.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistr|title=MemberListR|website=Americanantiquarian.org|access-date=17 September 2017}}</ref>

Rafinesque started recording all the new species of plants and animals he encountered in travels throughout the state. He was considered an erratic student of higher plants. In the spring of 1826, he left the university<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=34}}</ref> after quarreling with its president.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

He traveled and lectured in various places, and endeavored to establish a magazine and a botanic garden, but without success. He moved to Philadelphia, a center of publishing and research, without employment. He published ''The Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge, a Cyclopædic Journal and Review'',<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=38}}</ref> of which only eight issues were printed (1832–1833). He also gave public lectures and continued publishing, mostly at his own expense.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

===Death===
Rafinesque died of stomach and liver cancer in Philadelphia on 18 September 1840.<ref name="Fitzpatrick_p42">{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=42}}</ref> The cancer may have been induced by Rafinesque's [[self-medication]] years before with a mixture containing [[maidenhair fern]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ambrose|2010b}}</ref> He was buried in a plot in what is now Ronaldson's Cemetery.<ref name="Fitzpatrick_p42"/> In March 1924, what were thought to be his remains were transported to Transylvania University and reinterred in a tomb under a stone inscribed, "Honor to whom honor is overdue."<ref>{{harvnb|Boewe|1987}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Barefoot|2004|p=78}}</ref>

==Work==
===Biology===
Rafinesque published 6,700 [[binomial name]]s of plants, many of which have [[Principle of Priority|priority]] over more familiar names.<ref>{{harvnb|Boewe|2005|p=1}}</ref> The quantity of new taxa he produced, both plants and animals, has made Rafinesque memorable or even notorious among biologists.<ref>{{harvnb|Boewe|2005|p=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://nautil.us/issue/35/boundaries/why-do-taxonomists-write-the-meanest-obituaries|title=Why Do Taxonomists Write the Meanest Obituaries?|first=Ansel|last=Payne|journal=Nautilus|access-date=17 September 2017|date=7 April 2016|archive-date=2 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102224932/http://nautil.us/issue/35/boundaries/why-do-taxonomists-write-the-meanest-obituaries|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Mule Deer at Clearwater Pass 2.jpg|thumb|The [[mule deer]] is one of many species first named by Rafinesque.]]
Rafinesque applied to join one of the western scientific expeditions organized by President [[Thomas Jefferson]],<ref name=reveallewisclark>{{cite web|url=https://lewis-clark.org/people/constantine-rafinesque/|title=Constantine Rafinesque: Eccentric Genius|website=Discover Lewis & Clark|last=Reveal|first=James L.|date=30 June 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Warren|2004|p=98}}</ref> but received notice of appointment to the [[Dunbar and Hunter Expedition]] only after his arrival in Sicily.<ref name=reveallewisclark/>  After studying the specimens collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition, he assigned scientific names to the [[black-tailed prairie dog]] (''Cynomys ludovicianus''), the [[white-footed mouse]] (''Peromyscus leucopus''), and the [[mule deer]] (''Odocoileus hemionus'').

===Evolution===
Rafinesque was one of the first to use the term "[[evolution]]" in the context of biological speciation.{{sfn|Örstan|2014}}

Rafinesque proposed a theory of evolution before [[Charles Darwin]].{{sfn|Weslager|1989|p=85}}{{sfn|Rothenberg|2012|p=466}} In a letter in 1832, Rafinesque wrote:

<blockquote>The truth is that Species and perhaps Genera also, are forming in organized beings by gradual deviations of shapes, forms and organs, taking place in the lapse of time. There is a tendency to deviations and mutations through plants and animals by gradual steps at remote irregular periods. This is a part of the great universal law of perpetual mutability in everything. Thus it is needless to dispute and differ about new genera, species and varieties. Every variety is a deviation which becomes a species as soon as it is permanent by reproduction. Deviations in essential organs may thus gradually become new genera.{{sfn|Warren|2004|p=31}}</blockquote>

In the third edition of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' published in 1861, Charles Darwin added a ''Historical Sketch'' that acknowledged the ideas of Rafinesque.{{sfn|Darwin|1861|p=xv}}{{sfn|Ambrose|2010a}}

Rafinesque's evolutionary theory appears in a two-page article in the 1833 spring issue of the ''Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge'' (a journal founded by himself).<ref name="AtJoSpring1833">{{cite journal|author= Rafinesque, C.S.|journal= Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge|title= Principles of the Philosophy of New Genera and new species of Plants and Animals|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nVAEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA163|date=Spring 1833|pages= 163–164}}</ref> Rafinesque held that [[species]] are not fixed; they gradually change through time. He used the term "[[mutation]]s". He believed that evolution had occurred "by gradual steps at remote irregular periods." This has been compared to the concept of [[punctuated equilibrium]].{{sfn|Chambers|1992}} He also held that the same processes apply to humans.<ref name="AtJoSummer1833">{{cite journal|author= Rafinesque, C.S.|journal= Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge|title= Complexions of Mankind &c.. |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nVAEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA172|date=Summer 1833|pages= 172–173}}</ref>

===''Walam Olum''===
In 1836, Rafinesque published his first volume of ''The American Nations''. This included ''[[Walam Olum]]'', a purported migration and creation narrative of the [[Lenape]] (also known by English speakers as the Delaware Indians). It told of their migration to the lands around the [[Delaware River]]. Rafinesque claimed he had obtained wooden tablets engraved and painted with Indigenous [[pictographs]], together with a transcription in the [[Lenape language]]. Based on this, he produced an English translation of the tablets' contents. Rafinesque claimed the original tablets and transcription were later lost, leaving his notes and transcribed copy as the only record of evidence.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

For over a century after Rafinesque's publication, the ''Walam Olum'' was widely accepted by ethnohistorians as authentically Native American in origin, but as early as 1849, when the document was republished by [[E. G. Squier|Ephraim G. Squier]], [[Henry Schoolcraft|Henry Rowe Schoolcraft]], an ethnologist who had worked extensively in Michigan and related territories, wrote to Squier saying that he believed the document might be fraudulent.<ref name=arc>{{harvnb|Jackson|Rose|2009}}</ref> In the 1950s, the [[Indiana Historical Society]] published a "retranslation" of the ''Walam Olum'', as "a worthy subject for students of aboriginal culture".<ref>''Walam Olum: or, Red Score, The Migration Legend of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians.'' See {{harvnb|Voegelin|1954}}</ref>

Since the late 20th century, studies especially in linguistic, ethnohistorical, archaeological, and [[textual analysis|textual analyses]] suggest that the ''Walam Olum'' account was largely or entirely a fabrication. Scholars have described its record of "authentic Lenape traditional migration stories" as spurious.<ref name="Oestreicher"/> After the publication in 1995 of [[David Oestreicher]]'s thesis, ''The Anatomy of the Walam Olum: A 19th Century Anthropological Hoax'', many scholars concurred with his analysis. They concluded that Rafinesque had been either the perpetrator, or perhaps the victim, of a hoax.<ref name="Oestreicher">{{harvnb|Oestreicher|2005}}</ref> Other scholars, writers, and some among the Lenape continue to find the account plausible and support its authenticity.<ref name="Oestreicher"/>

===Study of prehistoric cultures===
[[File:Examples of how to calculate the value of Mayan numerals.gif|thumb|left|Examples of calculating the value of Mayan numerals]]
Rafinesque made a notable contribution to North American prehistory with his studies of ancient [[Earthwork (archaeology)|earthworks]] of the [[Adena culture|Adena]] and [[Hopewell culture]]s, especially in the [[Ohio Valley]]. He was the first to identify these as the "Ancient Monuments of America". He listed more than 500 such archaeological sites in Ohio and Kentucky.<ref>{{harvnb|Warren|2004|p=91}}</ref> Rafinesque never excavated;<ref>{{harvnb|Boewe|2000|p=xxiii}}</ref> rather, he recorded the sites visited by careful measurements, sketches, and written descriptions. Only a few of his descriptions were published, with his friend John D. Clifford's series "Indian Antiquities", eight long letters in Lexington's short-lived ''[[Western Review and Miscellaneous Magazine]]'' (1819–1820).{{sfn|Clifford|Rafinesque|2000|p=}} Clifford died suddenly in 1820, ending his contributions.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Rafinesque's work was used by others. For instance, he identified 148 ancient earthworks sites in Kentucky. All sites in Kentucky that were included by E. G. Squier and Davis in their notable ''[[Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley]]'' (1848), completed for the [[Smithsonian Institution]], were first identified by Rafinesque in his manuscripts.<ref>{{harvnb|Boewe|2000|p=xxv}}</ref>

Rafinesque also made contributions to [[Mesoamerica]]n studies. The latter were based on linguistic data, which he extracted from printed sources, mostly those of travelers. He designated as ''[[Taíno language|Taino]]'', the ancient language of the [[Caribbean]] island of [[Hispaniola]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hulme|1993}}</ref> Others later also used the term to identify the [[ethnicity]] of Indigenous Caribbean peoples.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Although mistaken in his presumption that the ancient [[Maya script]] was [[alphabetical]] in nature, Rafinesque was probably first to insist that studying modern [[Mayan languages]] could lead to deciphering the ancient script. In 1832, he was the first to partly decipher ancient Maya. He explained that its [[Maya numerals|bar-and-dot symbols]] represent fives and ones, respectively.{{sfn|Rafinesque|1832|pp=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104571#page/50/mode/1up 42]|ps=:"This page of Demotic has letters and numbers, these represented by strokes meaning 5 and dots meaning unities as the dots never exceed 4."}}<ref>{{harvnb|Houston|Stuart|Chinchilla Mazariegos|2001|p=45}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Chaddha|2008}}</ref>

[[File:Rafinesquia neomexicana capitulum 2005-04-01.jpg|thumb|The genus ''[[Rafinesquia]]'' was named in Rafinesque's honor.]]

===Legacy===
According to historian George Daniels, Rafinesque was a brilliant but erratic naturalist who roamed the American wilderness. His style was offputting to the emerging professionalization of science, and his achievements were controversial at the time and by historians ever since. By 1820, he was virtually an outcast in the scientific community as all the important publications rejected his submissions. The two leading American scientists of the day, [[Benjamin Silliman]] and [[Asa Gray]], were harshly critical. Modern historians agree that Rafinesque was often hasty, and tried to claim credit properly due to other researchers. Scientists were troubled that his theory of evolution – long before Darwin – seemed to be based more on his speculation and exaggerations than on solid research. Despite all his faults, says Daniels, "he made enormous contributions to the natural history phase of American science...with the establishment of 34 genera and 24 species of American fishes." He was also a brilliant teacher at Transylvania University.<ref>George H. Daniels, "Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel" in John A. Garraty, ''Encyclopedia of American Biography'' (1974) pp 886–887.</ref> 
*In 1838, the [[white-spotted lantern fish]] was named ''Collettia rafinesquii'' in his honour by [[Anastasio Cocco]]; it has since been moved to ''Diaphus rafinesquii''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzz8DwAAQBAJ&dq=diaphus+rafinesquii+Rafinesque&pg=PA176|title=Identification guide to the mesopelagic fishes of the central and south east Atlantic Ocean|first=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United|last=Nations|date=1 August 2020|publisher=Food & Agriculture Org.|isbn=9789251330944 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
*In 1841, [[Thomas Nuttall]] named a new genus ''[[Rafinesquia]]'' after Rafinesque. He felt indebted to the naturalist, who had inspired his work and given Nuttall's ''Flora'' a positive review.<ref>{{harvnb|Beidleman|2006|p=139}}</ref> The genus now contains two species, ''[[Rafinesquia californica]]'' Nutt. (California plumeseed or California chicory) and ''[[Rafinesquia neomexicana]]'' A. Gray (desert chicory or plumeseed).<ref>{{harvnb|Morhardt|Morhardt|2004|p=71}}</ref>
*In 1892, [[James Hall (paleontologist)|James Hall]] and J. M. Clarke proposed the genus name ''[[Rafinesquina]]'' in honor of Rafinesque for a number of fossil [[brachiopod]] species<ref>{{harvnb|Meyer|Davis|2009|p=272}}</ref> then belonging to genus ''[[Leptaena]]''; the genus is now in the family Rafinesquinidae.
*In 1896, the fish genus ''Rafinesquiellus'' was named by Jordan & Evermann, though it was subsequently synonymized under the genus ''[[Etheostoma]]''.

==Published works==
*1810: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/30032 ''Indice d'ittiologia siciliana ossia catalogo metodico dei nomi latini, italiani, e siciliani dei pesci, che si rinvengono in Sicilia disposti secondo un metodo naturale eseguito da un appendice che contiene la descrizione di alcuni nuovi pesci siciliani. Opuscolo del signore C.S. Rafinesque Schmaltz'']. Messina. 70 pp. + 2 plates.
*1810: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/185076 ''Caratteri di Alcuni Nuovi Generi e Nuove Specie di Animali e Piante della Sicilia'']. Palermo.
*1814: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53769 ''Specchio delle Scienze'']. Palermo.
*1814: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/27701 ''Précis des Découvertes et Travaux Somiologiques'']. Palermo.
*1814: [https://archive.org/details/tudesurleslcyth01pottgoog ''Principes Fondamentaux de Somiologie'']. Palermo.
*1815: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/188066 ''Analyse de la Nature ou tableau de l'univers et des corps organisés'']. Palermo, 223 pp.
*1815–1840: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/6306 ''Autikon Botanikon'']. Philadelphia.
*1817: [[iarchive:florulaludovici00rafigoog|''Florula ludoviciana; or, A flora of the state of Louisiana'']]. New York: C. Wiley & Co.
*1818: Description of three new genera of fluviatile fish, ''Pomoxis'', ''Sarchirus'' and ''Exoglossum''. ''Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 1, 417–422. (Read 1 and 8 December 1818) ([https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/79416#page/489/mode/1up BHL link])
*1819: "Dissertation on Water-Snakes", published in the London ''[[Literary Gazette]]''.
*1820: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/30031 ''Ichthyologia Ohiensis'']. Lexington.
*1824: [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009036878 ''Ancient History, or Annals of Kentucky'']. Frankfort.
*1825: [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012446234 ''Neogenyton'']. Lexington.
*1828–1830: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/10237 ''Medical Flora, a Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States of North America''] (two volumes). Philadelphia.
*1830: {{Cite book|title=American manual of the grape vines and the art of making wine |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Printed for the author |url=https://archive.org/details/americanmanualof00rafi|year=1830 }}
*1832: ''American Florist''{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=158}}
[[File:Rafinesque.AtlanticJournal.1832-1833..jpg|thumb|upright|''Atlantic Journal'' (1832–1833)]]
*1832: {{cite journal|first=Constantine|last= Rafinesque |date=1832|title=Philology. Second letter to Mr. Champollion on the graphic systems of America, and the glyphs of Otolum or Palenque, in Central America – Elements of the glyphs|journal=Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge|volume=1|issue=2|pages= 40–44|display-authors=0}}
*1832–1833: [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011570122 ''Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge'']. Philadelphia.
*1833: [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009083256 ''Herbarium Rafinesquianum'']. Philadelphia.
*1836: [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k980671/f1.table ''A Life of Travels'']. Philadelphia.
*1836: {{cite book |title=Flora Telluriana |date=5 October 2023 |publisher=H. Probasco |location=Philadelphia |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32191}} [https://archive.org/stream/floratelluriana00rafi#page/n13/mode/2up Pars Prima], [https://archive.org/stream/floratelluriana00rafi#page/n125/mode/2up Pars Secunda], [https://archive.org/stream/floratelluriana00rafi#page/n241/mode/2up Pars Tertia] & [https://archive.org/stream/floratelluriana00rafi#page/n345/mode/2up Pars IV Et Ult].
*1836: [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008399892 ''The American Nations''] (two volumes). Philadelphia.
*1836: [https://archive.org/details/lifeoftravelsres00rafi ''A Life of Travels and Researches in North America and South Europe'']
*1836: "The World", a poem.
*1836–1838: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/27706 ''New Flora and Botany of North America''] (four parts). Philadelphia.
*1837: ''Safe Banking''{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=197}}
*1837: Notes to [[Thomas Wright (astronomer)|Thomas Wright]]'s ''Original Theory, or New Hypothesis of the Universe''.
*1838: [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006500621 ''Genius and Spirit of the Hebrew Bible'']. Philadelphia.
*1838: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/81538 ''Alsographia Americana'']. Philadelphia.
*1838: [https://archive.org/details/ancientmonuments00rafirich ''The American Monuments of North and South America'']. Philadelphia.
*1838: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/20634 ''Sylva Telluriana'']. Philadelphia.
*1839: ''Celestial Wonders and Philosophy of the Visible Heavens''.{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|1911|p=200}}
*1840: [https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101203231-bk ''The Good Book'' (Amenities of Nature).] Philadelphia.
*1840: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/233408 ''Pleasure and Duties of Wealth''].

=== In popular culture ===
[[John Jeremiah Sullivan]]'s essay ''La-Hwi-Ne-Ski: Career of an Eccentric Naturalist'', which appears in his 2011 collection, ''[[Pulphead]]'', chronicles the life and times of Rafinesque.

=== Correspondence ===
*{{cite journal |last=Betts |first=Edwin M. |year=1944 |title=The Correspondence between Constantine Samuel Rafinesque and Thomas Jefferson |journal=[[Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society]] |volume=87 |issue=5 |pages=368–380 |jstor=985288}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boewe |first=Charles |year=1980 |title=Editing Rafinesque holographs: the case of the short letters |journal=[[Filson Club History Quarterly]] |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=37–49 |pmid=11616973}}

==See also==
*[[Rafinesque's big-eared bat]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="IPNI">{{cite web |url=https://www.ipni.org/a/8096-1 |title=''Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel (1783-1840)'' |website=[[International Plant Names Index]] (IPNI) |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |year=2025 |access-date=11 September 2025}}</ref>
}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|40em|indent=yes}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Ambrose|first1=C. T.|title=Darwin's historical sketch – an American predecessor: C. S. Rafinesque|journal=Archives of Natural History|volume=37|issue=2|year=2010a|pages=191–202|issn=0260-9541|doi=10.3366/anh.2010.0002|pmid=21137582}}
*{{cite journal |last=Ambrose |first=Charles T. |s2cid=26537392 |year=2010b |title=The curious death of Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783–1840): the case for the maidenhair fern |journal=[[Journal of Medical Biography]] |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=165–173 |doi=10.1258/jmb.2010.010001 |pmid=20798419 }}
*{{cite book |last=Barefoot |first=Daniel W. |year=2004 |title=Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities |publisher=[[John F. Blair]] |isbn=978-0-89587-287-6 |chapter=A Curse on Transylvania. Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky |pages=73–78 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jk1G91Gp2CIC&pg=PA78 }}
*{{cite book |last=Beidleman |first=Richard G. |year=2006 |title=California's Frontier Naturalists |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-23010-1 |chapter=The early peripatetic naturalists |pages=111–160 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TDJsQ4k19gkC&pg=PA139 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Belyi |first=Vilen V. |year=1997 |title=Rafinesque's linguistic activity |journal=[[Anthropological Linguistics (journal)|Anthropological Linguistics]] |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=60–73 |jstor=30028974 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Boewe |first=Charles |year=1987 |title=Who's buried in Rafinesque's tomb? |journal=[[The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography]] |volume=111 |issue=2 |pages=213–235 |jstor=20092097 }}
*{{cite book |last=Boewe |first=Charles |editor=John D. Clifford |year=2000 |title=John D. Clifford's Indian antiquities |publisher=[[University of Tennessee Press]] |isbn=978-1-57233-099-3 |chapter=Introduction |pages=i–xxxii |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FEoY9i3BD6IC&pg=PR23 |url=https://archive.org/details/johndcliffordsin00john |url-access=registration }}
*{{cite book |last=Boewe |first=Charles |year=2005 |title=A C. S. Rafinesque Anthology |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-2147-3 |editor=Charles Boewe |chapter=Introduction: reprinting Rafinesque |pages=1–14 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-Xub9N6gGwMC&pg=PA1}}
*{{cite news |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mayacode/time-flash.html |title=Deciphering Maya: a Time Line |work=NOVA |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] |first=Rima |last=Chaddha |date=8 April 2008 |access-date=18 May 2011 }}
*{{cite book |last=Fitzpatrick |first=T. J. |year=1911 |title=Rafinesque: a Sketch of his Life, with Bibliography |location=[[Des Moines, Iowa]] |publisher=[[Historical Department of Iowa]] |url=https://archive.org/details/rafinesquesketch00fitzuoft }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Chambers | first1 = Kenton L | year = 1992 | title = Evolution Before Darwin: The Musings of Constantine Rafinesque | url = http://www.npsoregon.org/kalmiopsis/kalmiopsis02/chambers1.pdf | journal = Kalmiopsis | volume = 2 | pages = 5–9}}
*{{cite book|last=Darwin|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Darwin|title=The Origin of Species|edition=3rd|date=1861|publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]|url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F381&viewtype=text&pageseq=1}}
*{{cite journal |last=Flannery |first=Michael A. |s2cid=23460522 |year=1998 |title=The Medicine and Medicinal Plants of C. S. Rafinesque |journal=[[Economic Botany]] |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=27–43 |jstor=4256022 |doi=10.1007/bf02861293|doi-access=free |bibcode=1998EcBot..52...27F }}
*{{cite journal |last=Gilbert |first=Bil |year=1999 |title=An "odd fish" who swam against the tide |journal=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rafin-abstract.html |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090925112658/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rafin-abstract.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 September 2009 |access-date=8 May 2011 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Stephen D. |first2=David |last2=Stuart |first3=Oswaldo |last3=Chinchilla Mazariegos |year=2001 |title=The Decipherment of Ancient Maya Writing |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=978-0-8061-3204-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/deciphermentofan0000unse }}
*{{cite journal |last=Hulme |first=Peter |year=1993 |title=Making sense of the native Caribbean |journal=New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids |volume=67 |issue=3&4 |pages=189–220 |url=http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/index.php/nwig/article/view/3301 |doi=10.1163/13822373-90002665|doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Brittany |first2=Mark |last2=Rose |url=http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/hoaxes/walam_olum.html |title=Walam Olum Hokum |journal=[[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]] |year=2009 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Long |first=Michael |year=2005 |title=Review: ''Constantine Samuel Rafinesque: A Voice in the American Wilderness'' by Leonard Warren |journal=[[Indiana Magazine of History]] |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=302–304 |jstor=27792653}}
*{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=David L. |first2=Richard Arnold |last2=Davis |year=2009 |title=A Sea Without Fish: Life in the Ordovician Sea of the Cincinnati Region |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |isbn=978-0-253-35198-2 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Morhardt |first1=Sia |first2=Emil |last2=Morhardt |year=2004 |title=California Desert Flowers: an Introduction to Families, Genera, and Species |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-24003-2 |chapter=Asteraceae (Compositae) |pages=29–80 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XyN-u-Bk40C&pg=PA71 }}
*{{cite book |last=Oestreicher |first=David M. |year=2005 |chapter=The Tale of a Hoax: Translating the ''Walam Olum'' |editor=Brian Swann |title=Algonquian Spirit: Contemporary Translations of the Algonquian Literatures of North America |url=https://archive.org/details/algonquianspirit00swan_796 |url-access=limited |location=Lincoln |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/algonquianspirit00swan_796/page/n31 3]–41 |isbn=0-8032-4314-6 |oclc=58721152 }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Örstan | first1 = Aydin | year = 2014 | title = Two early nineteenth-century uses of the term "evolution" to denote biological speciation | journal = [[Archives of Natural History]] | volume = 41 | issue = 2| pages = 360–362 | doi=10.3366/anh.2014.0255}}
*{{cite book|last=Rothenberg|first=Marc|title=History of Science in United States: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWy0pUAquCEC&pg=PA466|date= 2012|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-1-135-58318-7}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Voegelin |editor-first=C. F. |year=1954 |title=Walam Olum; or, Red Score, the Migration Legend of the Lenni Lenape or Delaware Indians. A new translation, interpreted by linguistic, historical, archaeological, ethnological, and physical anthropological studies |location=Indianapolis |publisher=[[Indiana Historical Society]] |oclc=1633009 }}
*{{cite book |last=Warren |first=Leonard |year=2004 |title=Constantine Samuel Rafinesque: a Voice in the American Wilderness |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |isbn=978-0-8131-2316-5 |chapter=Kentucky 1819–1826 |pages=79–99 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bjQpEAIGpAkC&pg=PA98 }}
*{{cite book|last=Weslager|first=C. A. |title=The Delaware Indians: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5k34LON-MUwC&pg=PA85|year=1989|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-1494-9}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |editor=[[William Greene Binney|Binney, Wm. G.]] & [[George Washington Tryon|George W. Tryon Jr]] |year=1864 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/34561 |title=The complete writings of Constantine Smaltz Rafinesque [sic&#93; on recent & fossil conchology|publisher=Bailliere Brothers; [etc., etc.] }} A comprehensive work which contains all of Rafinesque's malacological writings, including all his plates.
*{{cite book |editor=Boewe, Charles |year=1982 |title=Fitzpatrick's Rafinesque: A Sketch of His Life with Bibliography, revised by Charles Boewe |publisher=M & S Press |location=Weston, MA |isbn=978-0-87730-011-3}}
*{{cite book |editor=Boewe, Charles |year=2001 |title=Mantissa: A Supplement to Fitzpatrick's Rafinesque |publisher=M & S Press |location=Providence, RI |isbn=978-0-87730-016-8}}
*{{cite book |editor=Boewe, Charles |year=2003 |title=Profiles of Rafinesque |publisher=[[University of Tennessee Press]] |location=Knoxville, TN |isbn=978-1-57233-225-6}}
*{{cite journal |last=Boewe |first=Charles |year=2004 |title=C. S. Rafinesque and Ohio Valley Archaeology |publisher=Center for Ancient American Studies |location=Barnardsville, NC |journal=Ancient America |series=Monograph Series |volume=6}}
*{{cite book |last=Boewe |first=Charles |year=2011 |title=The Life of C.S. Rafinesque, A Man of Uncommon Zeal |publisher=American Philosophical Society |location=Philadelphia, PA |isbn=978-1-60618-922-1}}
*{{cite book |last=Call |first=Richard Ellsworth |year=1895 |title=The Life and Writings of Rafinesque: Prepared for the Filson Club and read at its Meeting, Monday, April 2, 1894 |url=http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;view=toc;idno=b92-46-26946886 |format=Electronic reproduction [2002], Kentuckiana Digital Library |series=[[Filson Club]] Publications, no.&nbsp;10 |location=Louisville, KY |publisher=John P. Morton |oclc=51849712 |access-date=13 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308114924/http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts |archive-date=8 March 2005 |url-status=dead }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Chambers | first1 = Kenton L | year = 1992 | title = Evolution Before Darwin: The Musings of Constantine Rafinesque | url = http://www.npsoregon.org/kalmiopsis/kalmiopsis02/chambers1.pdf | journal = Kalmiopsis | volume = 2 | pages = 5–9 | ref=none }}
*{{cite book|last1=Clifford|first1=John D. |last2=Rafinesque|first2=Constantine Samuel |title=John D. Clifford's Indian Antiquities|url=https://archive.org/details/johndcliffordsin00john|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press|isbn=978-1-57233-099-3|editor-first=Charles E.|editor-last= Boewe}}
*{{cite book |last=Dupre |first=Huntley |year=1945 |title=Rafinesque in Lexington, 1819–1826 |publisher=Bur Press |location=Lexington, KY}}
*{{cite journal |last=Holthuis |first=L. B. |year=1954 |title=С. S. Rafinesque as a carcinologist: an annotated compilation of the information on Crustacea contained in the works of that author |journal=[[Zoologische Verhandelingen]] |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=1–43 |url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/record/317812 |author-link=Lipke Holthuis}}
*{{cite journal |last=Holthuis |first=L. B. |year=1955 |title=A supplementary note on the carcinological work of C. S. Rafinesque |journal=[[Zoologische Mededelingen]] |volume=33 |issue=26 |pages=279–281 |url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/record/319355 |author-link=Lipke Holthuis}}
*{{cite book |last=Merrill |first=Elmer D. |year=1949 |title=Index Rafinesquianus |publisher=[[Arnold Arboretum]] |location=Jamaica Plain, MA}} (Indexes Rafinesque's plant names.)
*{{cite book|last=Rafinesque|first=Constantine Samuel |title=Atlantic Journal and Friend of Knowledge|url=https://archive.org/details/atlanticjournal00rafigoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/atlanticjournal00rafigoog/page/n94 85]|year=1833}}
*{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/johnjamesaudubon00rich |url-access=registration |title=John James Audubon |last=Rhodes |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Rhodes |publisher=Knopf |date= 2004 |isbn=0-375-41412-6 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/johnjamesaudubon00rich/page/133 133]–135 }}
*{{cite book |last=Sloan |first=De Villo |year=2008 |title=The Crimsoned Hills of Onondaga: Romantic Antiquarians and the Euro-American Invention of Native American Prehistory |location=Amherst, NY |publisher=[[Cambria Press]] |isbn=978-1-60497-503-1 |oclc=183392534}}
*{{cite book |editor=Sterling, K. B. |year=1978 |title=Rafinesque. Autobiography and Lives |publisher=[[Arno Press]] |location=New York, NY}} (Reprints Rafinesque's autobiography and the books by Call and Fitzpatrick.)
*{{cite journal |last=Stuckey |first=Ronald L. |year=1971 |title=The first public auction of an American herbarium including an account of the fate of the Baldwin, Collins, and Rafinesque herbaria |journal=[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]] |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=443–459 |jstor=1218245|doi=10.2307/1218245 |bibcode=1971Taxon..20..443S }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{Gutenberg author | id=33865| name=Constantine Samuel Rafinesque}}
* {{Librivox author |id=12824}}
*{{Internet Archive author |sname=Constantine Samuel Rafinesque}}
* {{BHL author|28}}
*[http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217407 Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Papers, 1815–1834 and undated] from the [[Smithsonian Institution Archives]]
*[http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/rafin.html Constantine Samuel Rafinesque], by Clark Kimberling
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040625121921/http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/rafsketch.html Fishes sketched by Rafinesque]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040624201622/http://faculty.evansville.edu/ck6/bstud/raffish.html Fishes first described by Rafinesque]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel}}
[[Category:French zoologists]]
[[Category:1783 births]]
[[Category:1840 deaths]]
[[Category:American biologists]]
[[Category:American carcinologists]]
[[Category:American entomologists]]
[[Category:American malacologists]]
[[Category:American Mesoamericanists]]
[[Category:American mycologists]]
[[Category:American phycologists]]
[[Category:American taxonomists]]
[[Category:Bryologists]]
[[Category:Mayanists]]
[[Category:Proto-evolutionary biologists]]
[[Category:French pteridologists]]
[[Category:Teuthologists]]
[[Category:Botanists active in North America]]
[[Category:Botanists with author abbreviations]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:French emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:French biologists]]
[[Category:French carcinologists]]
[[Category:French entomologists]]
[[Category:French malacologists]]
[[Category:French mycologists]]
[[Category:French Mesoamericanists]]
[[Category:French taxonomists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Marseille]]
[[Category:Transylvania University faculty]]
[[Category:Deaths from stomach cancer in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:French people of German descent]]
[[Category:19th-century Mesoamericanists]]
[[Category:19th-century American botanists]]
[[Category:19th-century French botanists]]
[[Category:19th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:19th-century French zoologists]]
[[Category:French expatriates in the Ottoman Empire]]