Seven page long letter from Hooker to William Mitten
Transcript
The publication of the species is another matter with which the [1 word illeg.] had better not be complicated; we have no assistance of any kind toward either arranging or distributing our plants beyond my own temporary salary which expires in 6 months; & Dr Thomson has nothing at all of any kind -- We are of course put to heavy expenses, so heavy that we contemplate, & indeed must give up the work in another year, except pecuniary[?] assistance is obtained for personal subsistence. We are publishing ourselves now, but paying printer & all expenses out of our own pockets -- Under these circumstances we are anxious to distribute as fast as we can consistently
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Friday
My dear Sir*1
I have at last got the Hepaticae plates back in hand, & (and) they are all but finished (11 in all). There are several wanting to finish the plates, some of which should be in Herb.[arium] Hook[erianum]*2, but I cannot lay my hands on them anywhere. Others are uniques in your own Herb.[arium] for the loan of which I should be obliged to color the plates by. I
append a list, & (and) if not too large to come by post I should 1 word illeg. be glad to pay the post.
I have a few more New Zealand Hepaticae in a very rough state which I will send as soon as looked [at] with Dr.Thomson[?] & (and) I have been continuously hard at work on the Indian Phanerogams & (and) have had no time to think of the Cryptogams -- a few odds and ends of these have
however turned up & (and) shall be sent.
We must now come to some conclusion about what should be done with these Cryptogamiae Indiae, & (and) should be very glad to know from you
1. How many species there may be (within 50 or 100) & (and) of each order
2. How many sets it is worth while 1 word illeg. dividing them into -- we make 60 sets of flowering plants of which No.60 contains about 1/6 of the total number of the species that No.1 gets -- this will give you some idea of the relative value of the sets -- where we have more than 60 specimens we put them aside, or give them all round.
3. Whether it would be agreeable to you to undertake the sorting, numbering, ticketing, dividing & (and) putting them up into 60 sets (more or less) -- the tickets we could get written up for you. I sent you a specimen of their form. --
4. Whether £60 would be acceptable for the complete job -- including a good set of all the species for yourself.
The Hook.[er] Herb.[arium] -- Herb.[arium] Paris*3 & (and) H[er]b[arium] Berlin*4 which should rank as 1, 2 & (and) 3 in the distribution -- the Hook[er] Herb[arium] set to be very full & (and) complete, containing such good specimens of all varieties & (and) forms &c (et cetera) &c (et cetera). as shall be as complete an illustration of the species as possible
The publication of the species is another matter with which the [1 word illeg.] had better not be complicated; we have no assistance of any kind toward either arranging or distributing our plants beyond my own temporary salary which expires in 6 months; & Dr Thomson has nothing at all of any kind -- We are of course put to heavy expenses, so heavy that we contemplate, & indeed must give up the work in another year, except pecuniary[?] assistance is obtained for personal subsistence. We are publishing ourselves now, but paying printer & all expenses out of our own pockets -- Under these circumstances we are anxious to distribute as fast as we can consistently
with extreme care & (and) accuracy you shall be welcome to publish any of the Hepaticae you may think proper, but I cannot offer a hope of any remuneration for it & (and) the getting the plants away is now our prime object retaining very full sets for future description in Hook.[er] Herb.[arium]
I shall be glad to hear from you at your convenience but there is no hurry about these arrangements. I should indeed like to try & (and) run down for an hour to H[urst]P[ier]Point but Sunday is my only spare day.
Ever sin[cere]ly y[ou]rs | JD Hooker [signature]
Jungermannia quadrifolia
Leptrordea[?] subpersona[?]
allodentle[?]
Chelo cyprus[?] aculeatus[?]
Lyalein[?]
piberatus[?]
Psiloclada clandestina
Gymnenetle[?] Lepliciodes[?]
Mentigobynem[?] affine[?]
Goteochea[?] Balfaciane[?]
Lejamia[?] Hepthammies[?]
tunnels[?]
pulchriella[?]
Frellania[?] incumbens[?]
I find small specimens from Colenso but thought Lyell[?] sent very fine ones from [2 words crossed out, illeg.] [1 word illeg.] Bay -- which I cannot not find.
1. Letter to William Mitten (1809--1906). An English pharmaceutical chemist and authority on byrophytes who has been called the premier bryologist of the second half of the nineteenth century. He built up a collection of some 50,000 specimens of bryophytes (mosses, lichens and liverworts) at his home in Hurstpierpoint , Sussex. The collection was made up of specimens collected around the world by other collectors and was sold to the New York Botanical Garden after his death. Collectors included Richard Spruce and Alfred Russell Wallace who became Mitten’s son-in-law.
2. Herbarium Hookerianum. A single volume containing 59 folios produced by Sir William Hooker in 1822 which he described as “A list of plants in my Herbarium, 6,372 species”. The manuscript is an alphabetical listing of the plants in his Herbarium and is held in the Library and Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
3. Herbarium Paris. The Paris Herbarium is held by the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and contains more than 11 million specimens collected from all over the world. There are early collections from the 16th century, historical collections of Jussieu and Lamark as well as general collections.
4. Herbarium Berlin. The herbarium of the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem was founded in 1819 and is the largest in Germany holding a collection of 3.8 million preserved specimens. All plant groups -- flowering plants, ferns, mosses, liverworts, and algae, as well as fungi and lichens are represented in the collection which is worldwide in scope. Associated with the general herbarium are special collections of dried fruits and seeds, wood samples and specimens preserved in alcohol.
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