Item data
Item Type:
Document
From:
Davies, Hugh
Sent from:
Beaumares, Anglesea
To:
Smith, Sir James Edward
Sent to location:
Norwich, Norfolk
Summary:
Five items enclosed, comprising:
1. [4.45] Letter from Davies to Smith. Sends a possible paper for "Linnean Transactions". Relates his good health although his peace of mind has been disturbed by [Edward] Donovan's [(1768-1837) zoologist] malignity. Believes Donovan's vanity and a "wish to be conspicuous" led to him to dispute sections of [Thomas] Pennant's "British Zoology" in order to support his own work, knowing Pennant to be dead and believing Davies and Pennant's illustrator [Moses] Griffith [(1749-c 1809)] to be also dead. Asks Smith to compare a handwritten extract from Donovan's "History of Fishes" [4.48], a sketch of the Beaumaris shark [4.47], printed letter from Moses Griffith [4.49], and the figure of the shark in "British Zoology".
2. [4.47] Traced copy of Davies' original drawing of the Beaumaris Shark, the same which he lent to Edward Donovan, asks Smith to compare it to the reduced copy which appears in "British Zoology" and the "audacious" account Donovan gives in the 'Squalus cornubicus' article in "History of British Fishes", note to also see [Samuel] Goodenough's article on the Porbeagle shark in "Linnean Transactions".
3. [4.48] Handwritten extract from article on 'Squalus cornubicus' from Donovan's "History of British Fishes", in which Donovan claims that Davies' drawing of the shark as it appears in "British Zoology" is altered from the original to such an extent that a very different fish is conveyed, implying that this led to Goodenough erroneously claiming in "Linnean Transactions" that the 'Squalus cornubicus' could not be the same as the Beaumaris shark.
4. [4.49] Printed extract from a letter written by Moses Griffith and published in "the Cambrian" 30 Dec 1809 refuting Donovan's claims that he was dead and defending himself against criticism of his draughtsman skills.
5. [4.50] Printed "Extracts from the North Wales Gazette" 1 March and 8 March 1810. Davies first defended against Donovan's accusations of Davies spreading falsehoods in the June 1809 "Gentleman's Magazine". Donovan replied in the August 1809 and September 1809 "Gentleman's Magazine". Davies was apparently prevented from replying again in the "Gentleman's Magazine" so recoursed to the North Wales Gazette in which he makes a lenghty defense. Davies has annotated sections with page references to Pennant's "Tours in Wales".
Letter date:
28 Nov 1810
Languages:
English
Prev Ref No:
4.45-4.50
Additional Information:
| Note type | Note |
|---|
| Related Material | For Donovan dispute see Davies' letters 15 October 1808, JES/COR/21/99, and of 17 January 1809, JES/COR/4/27. For Goodenough's comments on the dispute see JES/COR/11/68; JES/COR/11/79; JES/COR/11/80. For Goodenough's letter on Porbeagle shark found at Hastings see JES/COR/11/16. For Davies' additional letters on subject of 15 October 1808 and 28 November 1810, see JES/COR/21/99 and JES/COR/21/100, repsectively.
Pennant, T, (1770). "British zoology" London: B. White.
Donovan, E, (1802-1808). "The Natural History of British Fishes" London, 5 vols; please note not available from Linnean Society Library.
Goodenough, S, 'A Description of the Porbeagle Shark, the Squalus Cornubicus of Gmelin', "Transactions of the Linnean Society of London", 1797 3(1), pp.80-83.
Pennant, T, (1810). "Tours in Wales" London: Wilkie. |
| Finding Aids | Dawson, W R, (1934). "Catalogue of the manuscripts in the Library of The Linnean Society - Part I. The Smith papers: The correspondence and miscellaneous papers of Sir James Edward Smith", London: Linnean Society. |
