The Tuscan journeys of the pre-Linnaean botanist Pier Antonio Micheli

The Natural History Museum of Florence holds the botanical collections by Pier Antonio Micheli (1679–1737) that, due to their remarkable importance, recently underwent an extensive digitisation process. This initiative sparked interest in the large amount of information associated with Micheli’s collections and made it possible to begin a preliminary study on his botanical journeys in Tuscany. By combining these data with biographical (either handwritten or published) information from 19 travelogues, we reconstructed the itineraries of 14 travels, represented in as many georeferenced maps. All the data were compiled into a dataset, drafted according to the Darwin Core (DwC) standard. During these journeys, Micheli crossed many different ecosystems and geographical areas, recording more than 1,900 plant occurrences, the majority of which are vascular plants, referrable to more than 100 different families. Further investigation on the polynomial nomenclature is needed in order to identify these specimens below the family level. Our analysis of itineraries proved fundamental to enrich the information provided by the herbarium itself, whenever little geographical or chronological data are provided on its labels. Micheli’s legacy holds not only a scientific but also a historical relevance, as shown by the anecdotes and historical hints provided by the travelogues. We are confident that this preliminary research will highlight the importance of this historical collection and pave the way for further and more in-depth analyses of the vast amount of information contained within the legacy of Pier Antonio Micheli.