Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC499
The Camp, Sunningdale, Berkshire, United Kingdom
JDH/2/16 f.142
Thiselton-Dyer, Sir William Turner
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
16-11-1895
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Letters to Thiselton-Dyer
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Original MS
4 page letter over 1 folio
 
Transcript

There was a balance of £115 (thereabouts) over, on the McLeay account, which I of course offered to the Darwins -- but they would have none of it, & approved my giving it to Jackson who well deserved it. I have reserved it against a claim for over corrections of the press & [one word illeg, crossed out] any accidents which would have fallen on me according to the contract.*7
The Icones is a very serious matter. Oliver's*8 pay is out of all proportion to his work, brains inclusive:-- for such a brain of knowledge of affinities we shall probably never again see in the Herb[arium] in our lifetime. His pay, £100 per annum, was given as much to consideration of past services as for work to be done, & it is as you say, not easy to see how then these 2 items are to be readjusted -- If the services were what they ought to be in matter of quality, much might be overlooked; but they are far less in amounts than was

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Nov[ember] 16th/ [18]95 *1
THE CAMP, SUNNINGDALE. *2
Dear Dyer*3,
I have wanted to see you for some time but [Otto] Stapf*4 and I are so entangled in Andropogineae that I grudge every minute from the Herbarium. So long as it was the revision of the mss [manuscript] I had prepared 3 years ago, all went smooth; but when we began upon the enormous collections sent by King*5 & Duthie & a lot of new things from Woodrow, we found great changes in both genera & species to be required.
Gill's letter will require an answer that must be well considered -- meanwhile I will let you have my diary sheets, & welcome, as soon as I get the copy that Gills' letter promises -- of the 10 allowed me, they were disposed of as follows.
1.Herbarium
2. Dyer
3,4 Jackson
5. R[oyal]. Soc[iety].
6. Linn[ean] Soc[iety].
7. F[rancis]. Darwin*6
8. Cas[imir]. D[e] C[andolle][?]
9. Gray Herb[arium]
10. Collenso, who gave me that £50 as required.
For myself I kept only the clean proof.

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There was a balance of £115 (thereabouts) over, on the McLeay account, which I of course offered to the Darwins -- but they would have none of it, & approved my giving it to Jackson who well deserved it. I have reserved it against a claim for over corrections of the press & [one word illeg, crossed out] any accidents which would have fallen on me according to the contract.*7
The Icones is a very serious matter. Oliver's*8 pay is out of all proportion to his work, brains inclusive:-- for such a brain of knowledge of affinities we shall probably never again see in the Herb[arium] in our lifetime. His pay, £100 per annum, was given as much to consideration of past services as for work to be done, & it is as you say, not easy to see how then these 2 items are to be readjusted -- If the services were what they ought to be in matter of quality, much might be overlooked; but they are far less in amounts than was

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arranged for, & it is upon this that action may be taken without offence I should think. We must talk the matter over; it is thorny. I pay Baker £1.1. for every description he makes for Bot. Mag, which is 1/ more than I get, & I have constantly to keep him up to the mark, he is so slovenly.
By all means let Stapf have £5.00 from the Bentham Trust. I shall give him a good slice for from the pages for Fl[ora of] Brit[ish] Ind[ia] grasses (when I get it!) I have hitherto paid all contributors every shilling, & taken all the trouble of press corrections & editing. Plus paying for indices up to 6 volumes out of my own pocket -- (I am to have £40 to pay for the complete index at end of vol vii.)
I shall not be at Herb[arium] till Tuesday. I have a heap of grasses to analyse and describe at home before I can send more out to press. I am at

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p.128 in prep.
We agreed to the Huxley*9 statue for Brit[ish]. Museum [Natural History Musuem] yesterday, & the rest if any to be devoted to some way of encouraging[?] science. General[?] Committee will meet at Mus[eum of] Practical Geol[ogy] on 29th with D[uke]. of Devonshire in chair.
Ever affectionately | J. D. Hooker [signature]

ENDNOTES


1. An additional date is also shown at the top of the original manuscript letter in the centre of an ink stamp. It reads 18 Nov[ember] [18]95.
2. The address of Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, is also printed around the outside of the embossed circular stamp in addition to the typed address on the right hand side.
3. Sir William Turner Sir William 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 also married Hooker's eldest daughter Harriet in 1877.
4. Otto Stapf (1857--1933). Austrian botanist and taxonomist, the son of Joseph Stapf, who worked in the Hallstatt salt-mines. He published the archaeological plant remains from the Late Bronze and Iron Age mines that had been uncovered by his father. Stapf moved to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1890. He was keeper of the Herbarium from 1909 to 1920 and became British citizen in 1905. He was awarded the Linnean Medal in 1927. In 1908 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
5. Sir George King (1840--1909). Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta and Cinchona cultivation in Bengal, 1871--1898. First Director of the Botanical Survey of India, 1890--1898. King was awarded the Linnean Medal in 1901. He was recognized for his work in the cultivation of Cinchona and for setting up a system for the inexpensive distribution of quinine throughout India through the postal system
6. Sir Francis 'Frank' Darwin (1848--1925). Son of British naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin. Franks followed his father into botany and was also known for his work on phototropism. 7. This passage probably refers to the publication of Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks during Captain Cook's first voyage. (Edited by Joseph Dalton Hooker). London. 1896
8. Daniel Oliver (1830--1916). Botanist. In 1858 he was invited to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to classify and elaborate the herbarium and library, working for a pittance he supplemented his income by becoming Professor of Botany at University College, London, (1861--1888). Official Librarian of the herbarium at Kew from 1860--1890 and keeper of the herbarium from 1864--1890.
9. Thomas Henry Huxley (1825--1895). Biologist, teacher, and promoter of science. Best remembered for his defence of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, his support earning him the nickname 'Darwin’s bulldog'. The Huxley memorial statute was unveiled by Joseph Hooker at the Natural History Museum in May 1900, the money to pay for it having been raised by subscribers from around the world who donated over £3000 to the fund.

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