CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Science & Nature

Harry Norton Patterson

American printer, botanist and botanical collector (1853-1919)

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ21522689 ↗
Source-derived summary

Harry Norton Patterson (February 15, 1853 – May 22, 1919) was an American printer and botanist.

Patterson was born on February 15, 1853. His father was Edwin H. N. "Sniktau" Patterson, the namesake of Mount Sniktau. He started his career as an apprentice to his grandfather, the publisher of the Oquawka Spectator newspaper. At the age of 19, he published his first botanical paper, which was a catalog of plants collected around his hometown of Oquawka, Illinois. Merritt Lyndon Fernald remarked on the thoroughness of this text. He began to study the flora of Colorado sporadically between 1880 and 1895, with his early trips focused on the Gore Range. He issued the exsiccata series Colorado Flora.

In 1884, Patterson took control of the Spectator. He often collaborated with botanists such as Michael Schuck Bebb, Cyrus Pringle, Edward Lee Greene, William Marriott Canby, and Asa Gray, and exchanged printed floras with his contemporaries.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Harry Norton Patterson” as american printer, botanist and botanical collector (1853-1919). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Harry, Norton and Patterson.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1853, 1919, 1880, 1895—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1853-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Harry, Norton and Patterson providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Harry Norton Patterson”, the useful work is to connect “american printer, botanist and botanical collector (1853-1919)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q21522689. VIAF identifies the subject as 283488252. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1853, 1919, 1880 and 1895.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Harry Norton Patterson”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Harry Norton Patterson primary sources, Harry Norton Patterson archive and Harry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Harry Norton Patterson”?
  2. Has classification or technical consensus changed since the cited source?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Harry Norton Patterson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.