Item data
Item Type:
Document
From:
Jones, William
Sent from:
London
To:
Smith, Sir James Edward
Sent to location:
Paris, France
Summary:
Received Smith's letter from Europe, excited by his descriptions of Prince of Orange's insect cabinet and "double 'Tuberoses'". Mr [Thomas] M[arsham] anxious about the success of the new society [proposed Linnean Society], missed the meeting at which it was discussed but was given Secretary's Chair yet such was his apprehension about even being a member the motion has dropped. Agrees with Smith that for the present it should be kept "in embryo that we may not do anything unwisely or hastily". Cautions about the acrimony societies can raise, proposes an alternative quarterly "breakfast" with select friends from which a society could form naturally. Updates Smith on his work [for paper on 'Papilios']: has 990 specimens of 970 different species, after finishing with Sir Joseph Banks' collection has Dr Hunter's cabinet to examine and would like to consult Linnaean collections. [Johan Christian] Fabricius has described 200 species that he cannot procure, certain many described from drawings of [Pieter] Cramer [(1721-1776) Dutch entomologist, work in question probably "De Uitlandsche Kapellen"], will have to copy same to make his own work complete.
Letter date:
20 Sep 1786
Languages:
English
Prev Ref No:
5.198
Additional Information:
| Note type | Note |
|---|
| Publn Note | Smith, P (ed.), (1832). "Memoir and correspondence of... Sir James Edward Smith" London: Longman, vol 1, pp.174-175. |
| Related Material | Jones, W, 'A new Arrangement of Papilios, in a Letter to the President', "Transactions of the Linnean Society of London", 1794 2(1), pp.63-69.
Extract from Smith's letter dated 8 Sep 1786 to Jones is printed in Poulton, E B, Hobby, B M, Hemming, F, and Edelsten, H M, 'English names regularly used for British Lepidoptera up to the end of the eighteenth century, with a biographical account of William Jones of Chelsea', "Transactions of the Society for British Entomology", 1934 1(2), pp.139-184, reprint available from Linnean Society Library. |
| 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. |
| Additional | Smith replied 19 Feb 1787 |
