William Roxburgh, Calcutta, [Bengal, India], to James Edward Smith, London [duplicate]

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Ref No GB-110/JES/COR/8/106
Title William Roxburgh, Calcutta, [Bengal, India], to James Edward Smith, London [duplicate]
Letter date 20 Aug 1794
Author(s) William Roxburgh 1751-1815
Number of Pages 4

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GB-110/JES/COR/8/106 from William Roxburgh, Calcutta, [Bengal, India], to James Edward Smith, London [duplicate] (20 August 1794)

Metadata for GB-110/JES/COR/8/106 from William Roxburgh, Calcutta, [Bengal, India], to James Edward Smith, London [duplicate] (20 August 1794) Close

Item data

Item Type: Document
From: Roxburgh, William
Sent from: Calcutta, India
To: Smith, Sir James Edward
Sent to location: London
Summary:

This is letter is marked as a duplicate and was presumably sent at a later date to ensure arrival of at least one copy of the letter.
Has found new plants in Bengal including 'Asjogam' of "Hortus Malabaricus" vol 5 tab 59, thinks it a new genus and has named it after the late Sir William Jones ['Jonesia'] [(1746-1794) philologist and scholar of ancient India]. A manuscript of Jones' botanical observations to be posthumously printed in "Asiatic Researches" vol 4. Sends Jones' description of the 'Asjogam' and his own with drawing, hopes Smith can publish one. Has 400-500 drawings of plants to send by the next ships, his previously sent drawing of 'Nauclea orientalis' incorrectly labelled. Bark of 'Corchorus olitorius' and 'Corochorus capsularis' discovered to be equal to "the best flax" and will be a valuable export, it was mentioned by [Georg Eberhard] Rumphius and asks if it is known if "the ancients" or any other people substituted flax for it; the Bengali have long used it but only for cordage and twine uses, they believe 'Crotalaria juncea' is more valuable.
In postscript additional to the original letter writes that the majority of the season's ships have arrived but without letters from Smith or Mr Molesworth, fears some of his letters to Europe may have been lost.

Letter date: 20 Aug 1794
Languages: English
Prev Ref No: 8.188
Additional Information:
Note typeNote
AdditionalSmith replied 9 Oct 1795
Publn NoteSmith, P (ed.), (1832). "Memoir and correspondence of... Sir James Edward Smith" London: Longman, vol 1, pp.409-411.
Related MaterialFor original copy of this letter see JES/COR/8/105. Rheede Tot Draakestein, H A V et al, (1678-1703). "Hortus Indicus Malabaricus ..."Amstelodami: Joannis van Someren et Joannis van Dyck, 12 vols. Roxburgh, W, 'A Description of the Jonesia', "Asiatic Researches"1807 4, pp.353-355, 4th edition; available on GoogleBooks. Jones, W, 'Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants', "Asiatic Researches", 1807 4, pp.231-304, 4th edition; available on GoogleBooks.