From George Bentham 6 October 1852

My dear Sir

The herbarium of the late D^r Lemann has just been made over to me by his brother and sister. I went to town last week to pack it up and have now unpacked it here and looked into it enough to judge generally of its condition and value.

According to an understanding entered into with my friend last spring I now propose to select for myself (besides the Affghan collection which he had long previously given to me) a small number of species which I do not possess in my own herbarium, and to have the great bulk glued down and named and arranged after my own herbarium, adding from my own duplicates what I hope will prove pretty well an equivalent to what I shall keep of the herbarium, and to present the herbarium so formed in D^r Lemann's name to the University of Cambridge provided however the University will not object to paying the necessary expenses.

D^r Lemann valued his herbarium at 30,000 species, and from what I see of his lists etc. I should think he is not far wrong and that the number will range between 25,000 and 30,000 species, with at least double that number of specimens, the same species often occurring from several localities or in several varieties. The specimens are in excellent condition.

I estimate the expenses (provided the paper on which it is glued be not a very expensive one) at about £5 the thousand species or at from £125 to £150 for the whole. This will include the glueing down on white paper sufficiently stiff of the size of Sir William Hooker's and my own (16 1/2 inches by 10 1/4) in genus covers either of stiff brown paper, or of a peculiar excellent American paper I now import for the purpose. There will also be included some presses, though perhaps not enough for the whole herbarium.

In naming the plants I do not pretend to work up such genera as the Brasilian myrtles laurels or Loranths - but all will be carefully compared with my own herbarium which is now I believe one of the best named in the kingdom.

If you think you can undertake that the University will accept this gift from the late D^r Lemann on the above conditions, I will send you for your approval a sample of the paper, as I am anxious to commence operations as soon as possible,

I remain

my dear Sir

Yours very truly

George Bentham