TALBOT1185

My dear Henry

As you do not say where you are going I do not know where to direct to you – I have sent your letter to H. Frampton ¹ who has a Bee ophrys coming up from seed sown on the surface I think she would be worthy of some seed of the Italian orchideæ; if you find any of the longibra[cteata?] sambucina &c – pray send it her in a letter. The Gardeners here have a scarlet Anemone hortensis double which I never saw in England I hear my cutting of Cerinthe Aspera has flowered with the true dark spot – pray send to someone in England seeds of the Nicæan one – What are the leaves of the pavonina? I think I have seen its varieties in the garden – Is the Palm forest of the date or the fan palm? Globularia must have a little the look of a scabiosa succisa I think –

I hear I am to expect a letter from you every day – which I hope will tell me of some trouvailles ² in Istria – Harriet says a great many of the seeds you gave her are come up – particularly Alliums – I hope you will send her more.

I direct this to Vienna where I hope you will see Jacquin ³ & his Botanic Garden which was in great beauty when I saw it at this time of year – Ask for the Berberis fructu dulci, & the Hungarian & Illyrian trees & shrubs, because it is supposed there are some distinct species of Acer among them & it might be Tenore’s ⁴ Napoletanum. I have a letter today from John ⁵ who is just got to Naples & on the point of coasting down Calabria to Sicily meaning to return to Naples in a month. My letters to Tenore &c were in the unfortunate felucca. I hope you will go down the Danube as far as Presburg, ⁶ & up it to Klosterneuburg on the road to Presburg are some curious Saxogothic chapels near Deutsch Altenburg – pray go for a day or two to Baden & ramble up the S^t Helenensthal which is very pretty, I found a gentian there ages ago which I have not made out yet. Mödling, Brüll & the Schneeberg would be perhaps too far – But do not be persuaded by anybody to go to the gardens at Schönau, unless to see how far bad taste will go both in choice of situation & its embellishments – In Vienna itself there is only the Prater &c – the Belvedere gallery & the Lichtenstein to see. in the latter you will see a facsimile of the sleeping cupid at Melbury ⁷ but given to Franceschini ⁸ an imitator of Guido. ⁹ In the Prater look for Lotus conjugatus & Cerinthe minor which I found there in May. Above all, go to Dornbach it is one of the prettiest bits of park or forest scenery I ever saw, & on a Sunday when crowded with people, is delightfully gay & picturesque

I believe there are some pictures at Count Fries’s which I never saw – you will not miss Canovas ¹⁰ monument of the Archduchess – & pray look at S^t Clements bones encrusted with gold The Library & cabinets are matters of course – If you see M^r von Hammer ¹¹ the orientalist, express my remembrance of him. At [Binhersdorf?] in the wood you may see my great northern favorite Melampyrum nemorosum I saw it there for the first time – I should not wonder if it was to turn up in the wood here during the summer as I have found some of its hyperborean companions as the 3 convallarias, & the absence of primroses bluebells &c betrays a flora borealis. ¹² I am trying to get Dodonæus [Cruitbock?] I hope you will see Camp. ¹³ pyramidalis wild in Carniola which is one of my longings – Do you know C. gracilis of which I have a few plants come up?

Y^r Aff
W T H F S

There is a very fine library to be sold here in June tell me if you want any botanical classical or astronomical books & if you will trust me to bid for any for you – the sale will last till July – but the sooner I hear the better. –

Autriche
A Monsieur
Monsieur W. H. F. Talbot
à la poste restante
à Vienne