Ɛpsilon

From Maxwell Tylden Masters   March 1866

International Horticultural Exhibition, | & Botanical Congress, | Office, 1, William Street, Lowndes Square, | Knightsbridge, S.W.

March 1866

Sir/

I am desired by the Committee of the Botanical Congress1 to ask you to allow your name to be added to the list of its members which already comprises those of

Prof A. de Candolle President

Prof Babington

J. J. Bennett Esq

Revd. M J Berkeley

Prof Bentley

Dr. J. E. Gray

Dr. Welwitsch

John Miers Esq

W. Carruthers Esq2

and others—

A Programme will shortly be sent to you3

in the meantime I beg the favor of an early reply and am Sir | Your obedient Servant | Maxwell. T. Masters | MD | Hon. Sec. Congress—

P.S. | Private— not official!

My dear Sir/

Owing to Dr. Seemann’s somewhat sudden departure and the establishment of a congress committee only during the last few days I am ignorant if any communication has been sent you—4 Pray excuse me for troubling you twice over if I have done so

1
Masters was secretary of the International Horticultural Exhibition and Botanical Congress, held in South Kensington, London, from 22 to 31 May 1866. CD became one of the twenty-four vice-presidents of the committee of the botanical congress. Earlier international botanical and horticultural congresses had been held in Brussels (1864) and Amsterdam (1865). (International Horticultural Exhibition 1866, pp. 6–9, 16.)
3
The congress programme has not been found in the Darwin Archive–CUL; however, the papers were published, with a detailed report of the exhibition and congress, in International Horticultural Exhibition 1866.
4
Masters refers to Berthold Carl Seemann, who was absent from Britain between March and August 1866 on an expedition to Nicaragua (Journal of Botany 10 (1872): 5). No letter from Seemann to CD about the congress has been found.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-5022,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-5022