Letter and/or further information available at http://jdh.aetopia.net/p/jdh?q=jhc538.
Please cite as “JHC538,” in Ɛpsilon: The Joseph Dalton Hooker Collection accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/hooker/letters/JHC538
JDH writes to Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [WTTD] regarding [David] Prain's selection as a Fellow of the Royal Society, he particularly mentions that Charles Darwin was impressed by Prain & advocated his selection along with JDH. JDH also secured Prain the support of [Sir Michael] Foster but [Dunkinfield Henry] Scott probably supported [Francis Wall] Oliver. JDH criticises the behaviour of [Sir Dietrich] Brandis in trying to swap Prain's candidature in favour of [Otto] Stapf adding that he has always disliked Brandis & his approach to Indian botany. JDH praises [Perceval] Landon's book LHASA & adds that he is keen to hear about the botanical collection Prain is to receive from the expedition Landon was part of, [British Military Expedition to Lhasa, Tibet 1903-1904]. JDH mentions his opinion that the Government will be scared into giving up the Tibetan pass of Chumbi which they had occupied. JDH also reflects on the life of Dufferin [Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava] whose biography he is reading. He recommends WTTD read THE NORTHWESTERN PROVINCES OF INDIA by W. Crooker, 1897, & THE POET GRAY AS A NATURALIST BY edited by [Charles Eliot] Norton. JDH also mentions Algernon Bertam Freeman-Mitford's speech & photographing a sketch of David Douglas for the 'young mens' reading room'. He reports that [George] King's work on Effuseae is slow & he is seeking advice from Genoa.
Hooker Project[View Ɛpsilon collection]