Sends a specimen of a local kind of flax, found in Darisham, [Suffolk], for Smith's opinion; [Thomas] Woodward thinks it 'Linum tenuifolium'.
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The Linnean Society of London Collection
The scientific and personal correspondence of James Edward Smith (1759-1828), purchaser of the collections of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and founder of the Linnean Society of London in 1788, was presented to the Linnean Society between 1857 and 1872 by his widow Pleasance Smith (1773-1877). Since then, it has been complemented by additional series. The collection was catalogued, conserved, and digitised from 2010 to 2013, thanks to the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Letters can be searched through Ɛpsilon, with links to images and summaries available on the Linnean Society’s Online Collections (http://linnean-online.org/smith_correspondence.html).
Sends a specimen of a local kind of flax, found in Darisham, [Suffolk], for Smith's opinion; [Thomas] Woodward thinks it 'Linum tenuifolium'.
Thanks Smith for plan he settled between gardener at Bulstrode, [Buckinghamshire, home of Dukes of Portland] and herself to exchange plants. Requests copy of [James] Sowerby's drawing of 'Spercalia' , as hers is so different from Lady [Amelia] Hume's and she wishes to get a plant sent from China.
Asks which Sierra Leone seeds and plants are most worth sending for, having a contact offering to acquire any.
Received Smith's letter of 22 January [1793]. Sending papers on natural history of the mole and meteorological phenomena in Perthshire [see RelatedMaterial below].
Delighted by Smith's employment at Windsor; hears that the Queen [Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744-1818)] wants to set up a botanic garden and he has been approached to send plants from Welsh mountains. Sending plant specimens for Linnean Society, will send lichens in next post. Hopes to send animal drawings via a friend. Has not seen a figure of the 'Pycnogonum'; Herbert's bad figure of the 'Cancer' [crab].
Bearer of the letter is a gardener recommended by Hunter of [Kenwood], for the gentleman Smith mentioned.
[Note in Smith's hand] account of expenses to [Shute] Barrington, and "Gulielmus Fridericus Baro de Gleichen, author of Microscopic observations on the parts of genera of plants".
Busy with receipt of two mails from Jamaica. Has a "great respect" for the [banking] house Smith mentioned to him, which is a neighbour; does not hold the sins of their predecessors against them [in reference to slavery and planters]. Requests copies of Smith and Shaw's works ["Botany and Zoology of New Holland" (1793-1794)]. Informs Smith of 'Scutellaria minor' he found at Barnet, [Hertfordshire], for possible inclusion in "English botany".
Recently sent specimens of 'Lithosperum caeruleo-purpureum', fears their quality will have diminished. Sketched map showing where he gathered it.
Presents his compliments and leaves two drawings of 'Lithosperum caeruleo-purpureum' for Smith.
Pleased his response to Smith's enquiries about 'Lithospermum' was satisfactory. Prices for his "Synopsis of birds" and "Index [ornithologicus]".
Invites Smith to visit in August.
Disappointed Smith could not visit in the autumn and laments the distressing cause. Invites Smith to visit anytime he is free. Thanks for present of seeds.
Thanks for seeds. Will likely acquire the books Smith mentioned in his letter. Offers use of his botanical library during Smith's work on his book.
Returns his revised paper on 'Lycoperdon anemones', for possible publication and so it is at the Linnean Society before [Richard] Relhan's publication on same. Offers to send specimens of 'Pinguicula villosa' and 'Gentiana filiformis' for [James] Sowerby to draw; explains how he was the first person to find them outside of Cornwall.
Sending living plants of 'Pinguicula villosa'. Will send 'Gentiana filiformis' later in year.
Still unable to obtain growing plants of 'Gentiana filiformis'. Encloses 'Locus natalis'. Thanks for Smith's observations on 'Lichen', agrees that 'L. barbatus' and 'L. articulatus' do not differ specifically. Desires copy of Tode's "Fungi Mecklenburgenses" and Smith's "Tour of the Continent".
Congratulates Smith on his lessons at Windsor [teaching the Queen and Princesses botany], which are exalting his "Fame & Honour". Thanks for Botany Bay plants, though he is becoming a "feeble amatuer in botany". Does not expect any publications from [Adam] Afzelius until he reaches Sweden. Asks after Cavanilles and L'Héritier. Pleased to hear that [Aylmer Bourke] Lambert has become Smith's neighbour and has recovered his health and spirits. [Thomas] Rackett's conchology work on his 1000 species collection.
Asks if Smith received his letter of 20 November 1793.
Thanks for Smith's letter of 28 [January 1793], apologises for being a "troublesome correspondent". Desires Smith to compare [Sir Joseph] Bank's copy of Hedwig's ["Descriptio et adumbratio microscopico-analytica muscorum" (1787-1797)] with the one Haslock has for sale, and if satisfactory to purchase it for him. Directions for sending this and plates of L'Héritier's "Sertum Anglicum". His account with Smith. Pleased to hear that L'Héritier is to now focus exclusively on botany. He has given up on the French since they stepped over their own borders, even though they were provoked to it.
Asks Smith to show Dr [Thomas] Rackett the Linnaean shells.
Does not know how to ask to borrow Hedwig work from Sir Joseph Banks'; he has decided not to purchase it, being unwilling to commit to a work not yet completed. Thanks for sending rest of Gaertner.