JDH asks Thiselton-Dyer if the proof of his 'address' has been sent to the publisher, Griffith. JDH describes his present location, Alderley Grange in Wotton under Edge, as 'a lovely place'. Whilst there he is working on the Royal Society address & the 'Primer' [refers to the series of 'Science Primer' books published by Macmillan, for which Hooker wrote the volume entitled BOTANY (1876)]. The following week JDH will go to Bewdley, then to stay with [George] Maw at Broseley, Shropshire, before returning to Kew. In a post script JDH adds that he has read & enjoyed CRUISE ON WHEELS [by Charles Allston Collis] & is now reading [George Eliot's] SCENES OF CLERICAL LIFE, the best thing he has read in years, either fact or fiction. He specifically mentions the story JANET'S REPENTANCE.
Transcript
down with me the Primer*3 & a heap of matter for the R[oyal] S[ociety] address, & have vowed every morning to them.
I go next week for a night to Bewdley & then to Maw's*4 at Brosly[sic] whence I shall return to --
Royal Gardens Kew
Alderley Grange
Wootten[sic] under
Edge
Oct 8/[18]74
Dear Dyer*1
Did the proof of the "Address" go back to Griffith*2? -- I forgot all about asking for 100 copies.
This is a lovely place with lovely weather, but cold -- I have brought
down with me the Primer*3 & a heap of matter for the R[oyal] S[ociety] address, & have vowed every morning to them.
I go next week for a night to Bewdley & then to Maw's*4 at Brosly[sic] whence I shall return to --
Kew on Saturday or Monday.
I am sincerely yours | JD Hooker [signature]
The cruise on wheels*5 is capital -- but Scenes from Clerical Life*6 is so superior to any thing I have read for years &
years that any fact or fiction is tame after it. I think however that "Janet's Repentance"*7 which I finished yesterday is far from perfect -- in plot or as a whole quite true to nature -- though itself quite as flush of truths to nature of the most delightful & refreshing description.
1. Sir William Turner Thiselton--Dyer (1843--1928). British botanist and third Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1885--1905). He succeeded Joseph Hooker in the role after serving as his Assistant Director for ten years. He previously held professorships at the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester, Royal College of Science for Ireland and Royal Horticultural Society. He married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
2. Griffith and Farran, London publisher.
3. Refers to the series of 'Science Primer' books published by Macmillan, for which Hooker wrote the volume entitled Botany (1876).
4. George Maw (1812--1912). Geologist, botanist and manufacturer who travelled with Joseph Dalton Hooker to Morocco and Algeria in 1871. Partner in encaustic tile company May & Co, of Broseley, Shropshire.
5. Collins, Charles Allston (1863), A Cruise Upon Wheels: The Chronicle of Some Autumn Wanderings Among the Deserted Post-Roads of France.
6. Eliot, George (1858), Scenes of Clerical Life. Mary Ann Evans' first published work of fiction and the first released under her pseudonym, George Eliot.
7. Janet's Repentance, one of the short stories in Scenes of Clerical Life.
Please note that work on this transcript is ongoing. Users are advised to study electronic image(s) of this document where possible.
Powered by Aetopia