James Edward Smith, London, to Edmund Davall

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Ref No GB-110/JES/COR/14/8
Title James Edward Smith, London, to Edmund Davall
Letter date 2 Jul 1789
Author(s) Sir James Edward Smith 1759-1828
Number of Pages 8

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GB-110/JES/COR/14/8 from James Edward Smith, London, to Edmund Davall (2 July 1789)

Metadata for GB-110/JES/COR/14/8 from James Edward Smith, London, to Edmund Davall (2 July 1789) Close

Item data

Item Type: Document
From: Smith, Sir James Edward
Sent from: London
To: Davall, Edmund
Summary:

Responds to points in Davall's letter of 5 May: 'Hister quadrimaculatus' extremely rare; 'Thilco' of Feucillée quoted in "Hortus Kewensis" for 'Fuschia coccinea'; sorry [Jean Louis Antoine] Reynier [(1762-1824), botanist] is in Linnean Society but he cannot be expelled; likes [James] Sowerby, they are to collaborating on a work ["Icones pictae"] dedicated to Lady Rockingham [Mary Watson-Wentworth] with "superb coloured plates"; her 'Euphorbia walleni' and 'Passiflora punctata' and his 'Antirrhinum reticulatum' complete. Sends fruits for [Jacob] Wyttenbach. Lots of seeds arriving from New Holland [Australia] including 'Banksia' at [James] Lee's. Hears nothing from [Werner de] Lachenal [(1736-1800), professor of botany at Basel].
Responds to Davall's letter of 22 May: 'Carex tomentosa' is correct and "right precious", no one except Sir Joseph Banks has seen it in England. Numbered observations on thirty plants in packet of same date: 'Carex foetida', 'Antirrhinum genistifolium', 'Cistus', 'Scirpus mucronatus', 'Scirpus triqueter', 'Potentialla opaca', 'Linum alpinum', 'Narcissus poeticus', 'Arenaria tenuifolia', 'Gnaphalium luteoalbum', 'Filago gallica', 'Carex saxatilis', 'Arenaria liniflora', 'Schoenus ferrugineus', 'Carex montana', 'Carex filiformis', 'Carex caespitosa', 'Carex elongata' Sp. Pl. ed 1 and Scheuchzer tab11 f4, 'Crapula rubens' HL, 'Narcissus pseudonarcissus', 'Potamogeton', 'Avena fragilis', 'Chara flexilis', 'Hypericum dubium', '[Hypericum] barbatum', 'Crepis biennis', 'Crepis virens', 'Salix arbuscula' HL, 'Scorzonera humilis', 'Turritis caerula', and 'Arenaria'.
François [Borone's, his assistant] intention to return to Milan has affected his plant collecting. Visiting Matlock, [Derbyshire], and [Richard] Salisbury this summer. Beautiful 'Fuchsia' thriving at Kew. Sending Davall his two most recently published books ["Plantarum icones" and "Reliquiae rudbeckianae"], [James] Dickson's "fasc[iculus] of dried plants", and 'Smithia sensitivia' as "harbringer" of Kew catalogue.

Letter date: 2 Jul 1789
Languages: English
Prev Ref No: 14.13
Additional Information:
Note typeNote
AdditionalDavall replied 27 Oct [1789] and 24 Nov [1789]
Finding AidsDawson, 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.
Publn NoteSmith, P (ed.), (1832). "Memoir and correspondence of... Sir James Edward Smith" London: Longman, vol 2, pp.14.15.
Related MaterialFor Davall's letters of 5 May 1789 and 22 May 1789, to which this is a reply, see JES/COR/14/6-7. For Davall's replies of 27 October 1789, see JES/COR/14/10, and 24 November 1789, see JES/COR/14/12. Aiton, W, (1789). "Hortus Kewensis; or, a catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew..." London: Printed for George Nicol. Smith, J E, (1790-1793). Icones pictae plantarum rariorum descriptionibus et observationibus illustratae auctore Jacobo Edvardo Smith. - Coloured figures of rare plants ... London: [privately]. Smith, J E, and Linnaeus, C, (1789-1791). "Plantarum icones hactenus ineditae, plerumque ad plantas in herbario Linnaeo conservatas delineatae." Londini: Impensis Benj. White et Filii. Rudbeck, O T E, Smith, J E (ed.), et al, (1789). "Reliquiae rudbeckianae, sive camporum elysiorum libri primi, olim Olao Rudbeckio patre et filio, Upsaliae anno 1702 editi quae supersunt, adjectis nominibus Linnaeanis ..." Londini: Imprensis Editoris. Aiton, W, (1789). "Hortus Kewensis; or, a catalogue of the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew..." London: Printed for George Nicol.