Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC572
Hotel de Lion d'Or, Leyden [Leiden, Netherlands]
JDH/2/8 f.35-37
Hooker, Sir William Jackson
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
7-3-1845
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Letters during a tour in Paris and Leyden
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Original MS
5 page letter over 3 folios
 

JDH gives his opinion of the botanic garden in Brussels; he was impressed by the palm collection incl. Elate sylvestris & Caryota urens. The garden secretary Mr Drapier is unpopular. Mentions some other botanists of Brussels: Lucien; Dumortier; Galiotti, whose nursery he visited; Quetelet, who he met at the Brussels Academy. JDH admired the picture gallery in Brussels, especially the Rubens, & the Church of St Gudula. In Ghent he saw further fine paintings & churches. He also wen to Van Houtens nursery with [Joseph] Decaisne's brother, a regimental surgeon. Van Houten has impressive collections of camellias & palms. His collectors in Guiana, Brazil & West Africa were not productive. He is willing to exchange plants with William Jackson Hooker, for things from Antipodes & Jamaica plants such as [Ronald Campbell] Gunn's seeds. All 3 Decaisne brothers, botanist, painter & surgeon, have received the Legion of Honour. At Antwerp saw the cathedral, exposition of plants & botanic garden. Went on to Breda on the 'Diligence' then to Rotterdam & Leiden. At Leiden he has met with [Caspar Georg Carl] Reinwardt & seen the botanic garden, with excellent succulents & Japan duplicates to be sent to RBG Kew. JDH recommends further plant exchanges with the Dutch botanists as they have good connections with the Japan & Java. [Carl Ludwig von] Blume has shown JDH [the Rijkshrbarium] collection of Japan things; which he has at the expense of Siebold & is willing to share with JDH, incl specimen of Staffleria patina. JDH may extend his trip to see HORTUS CLIFFORTIANUS in Harlem & Linnaeus' Lapland dress in Amsterdam. JDH notes how spectacular Blume's collection of Orchideae, drawings & birds is. Visiting Leiden & the Jardin de Plantes, Paris have been epochs in JDH's life. Mentions the high opinion of WJH & his publications in Europe. Discusses his plans for taking over Robert Graham's lectures [at Edinburgh]. Muscologists in Leiden want [George] Gardner's Brazilian mosses.

Transcript


Leyden [Leiden] Thursday Friday 7 March 1845
Hotel de Lion d'Or
My dear Father*1
My ink bottle is empty & as this whole house have retired early I do not like to disturb them at this hour -- I began to think that I should never get to Holland at all, the Frost & Snow having encumbered the roads so much & the detentions[?] being so numerous & long. My last letter was written from Brussels, which I found a very interesting city, though not strong in Botanists. The Botanic garden has very good stoves, of a rather imposing appearance, & very well situated, close by the Town. The collection of Palms [is] excellent & there were the finest specimens of Elate sylvestris & Caryota urens that I have ever seen, of other things they have no great store, though I went carefully through all. The Cacti are tolerable & they have very many Orchidae from Linden, but quite small & they have not yet flowered. There is no one who has particular charge of the garden, the secretary, a Mr Drapier is not liked by any one, & was unwell. Lucien I called on but he was out of town -- Dumortier was at Tournay. Galiotti has a young nursery & some excellent Cacti, which are wanting at Kew, but nothing very remarkable -- Mr Quetelet I called on three times, & he twice on me, but we constantly missed one another, as he expressed a wish to see me at the meeting of the Brussels Academy, I staid over the second day there. The Institution has a great name though I cannot say I recognized any great men there. Quetelet

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Leyden [Leiden] Thursday Friday 7 March 1845
Hotel de Lion d'Or
My dear Father*1
My ink bottle is empty & as this whole house have retired early I do not like to disturb them at this hour -- I began to think that I should never get to Holland at all, the Frost & Snow having encumbered the roads so much & the detentions[?] being so numerous & long. My last letter was written from Brussels, which I found a very interesting city, though not strong in Botanists. The Botanic garden has very good stoves, of a rather imposing appearance, & very well situated, close by the Town. The collection of Palms [is] excellent & there were the finest specimens of Elate sylvestris & Caryota urens that I have ever seen, of other things they have no great store, though I went carefully through all. The Cacti are tolerable & they have very many Orchidae from Linden, but quite small & they have not yet flowered. There is no one who has particular charge of the garden, the secretary, a Mr Drapier is not liked by any one, & was unwell. Lucien I called on but he was out of town -- Dumortier was at Tournay. Galiotti has a young nursery & some excellent Cacti, which are wanting at Kew, but nothing very remarkable -- Mr Quetelet I called on three times, & he twice on me, but we constantly missed one another, as he expressed a wish to see me at the meeting of the Brussels Academy, I staid over the second day there. The Institution has a great name though I cannot say I recognized any great men there. Quetelet

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was very kind & wished me to stay another day, which was out of the question The Picture gallery contains many very fine things, it took a whole morning to see, there are several pictures of Rubens. The Church of St Gadula is also very fine indeed, & has one of the most beautiful pulpits I ever saw, made of carved wood. From Brussels I went to Ghent, but the rail road being slippery we arrived so late on Saturday that I could not see Mr Decaisne[']s brother. The next day was Sunday & I went nowhere but to Church & inside two Catholic ones, in one of which are magnificent paintings by Rubens & other Belgian artists. On Monday morning I saw Mr Decaisne, a regimental Surgeon, who took me t[o] the X [church] & explained the beauties of the pictures, & then to Vanhouten's nursery. This is a most astonishing one, both for the number of species of Botanical plants & of Camellias & other such. Van H. was very kind & as the Antwerp train started too early in the day, for me to go, I accepted his invitation to dinner. He has a superb collection of Palms, all young, as he sells as fast as he gets. He had 3 collectors, one in Guiana, one in Brazil & one in West Africa, but he says that they send him nothing & that he could do 10 times better with the money -- He will send any thing you want (according to his catalogues, the most recent of which I have for you) & would like Australian & New Zealand or Jamaica ones in return. Some of [Ronald Campbell] Gunn's seeds, if divisible

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would be most acceptable to him & to Paris -- if not already sown & there are duplicates this will be very opportune: he is most liberal & offered me any thing I liked, he takes the [Botanical] Magazine & is going to have the Journal & Fl[ora]. Antar[arc]t[ica]. Decaisne had just heard from his brother the Botanist who had received that day the order of the Legion of Honor, thus all the three sons of Mrs Decaisne, a widow, are chevalliers & all under 40 -- the painter, Botanist & Surgeon. At four 5 on Tuesday morning I took rail road to Antwerp, but the trains were so slippery that we did not arrive till10, too late for the Rotterdam Diligence, I had not intended to stay at Antwerp but the delay allowed of my seeing the Cathedral & its paintings, the Exposition of plants & the microscopic Botanic garden. At 4 I took Diligence to Breda & arrived there at midnight, at 4 the next morning I continued my route, but the roads & rivers were so bad that several passengers were frightened & went round by some place South. Such a cruise I never had by land: the cold was intense, the therm[ometer] at 7 with a keen wind. We crossed three rivers, one all frozen but covered with Hummocks & piles of ice, the second the Maes, 11/2 miles broad, loaded with huge masses of Pack & Berg ice, rushing down to the sea, the navigation was very bad & performed in boats, which were shot down from a bank onto the stream & pulled up & down the river, working many diagonals, at times fixed in the Pack & at others free again -- in about 11/2 hours we were across in safety, but wet & cold enough. As however all the little Cabarets have hot coffee, the cold did not much matter -- the third river was half fixed Ice with great holes of water & the boats were dragged or pushed or rowed according to circumstances. We arrived late at

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*2 Rotterdam. I went the first thing next morning to intelligent & agreeable man, full of Botany & who will pr acquisition to us, I spent the day with him. And started at 5 this morning & arrived at 9. -- [Carl Ludwig von] Blume*3 was out & to [Caspar Georg Carl] Reinwardt he is very old & infirm but received me most kindly, I saw part of the Bot. garden which is not extensive but has excellent old succulents, & good Japan duplicates w they will send to Kew, a few seeds would be a stimulus to these Hollanders & as they have still relations with Japan & Java perhaps not thrown away. Blume received me most has shown me such wonders in the Museum & at his house as was almost incredible, he has all the Japan things, having no collection whatever, but a small garden, too are reconciled, but Siebold's char. is gone from all I hear. Blume promises me much, but he says I must take them myself, as he has no aide & no time to make selections. I intended returning by Wednesday's boat to London, but I shall see tomorrow whether it is worth staying till Saturday. I have the Hortus Cliffortianus to see at Haarlem & Linneus Lapland dress if I could get to Amsterdam -- 3 hours from this, this will do if I stay, if not I will give it up, all will depend on Blume's performance tomorrow, he promises me a small Staffleria patina!! & any described Japan & Java things: he shown me today about 80 Japan orchideae & lots of duplicates of which he promises us the first set when described. Of Java orchideae he has about 200 & drawings (sketches very good) of almost all, you have no idea of the richness of this place; such beautiful drawings, as good as Fitch's, or very nearly. They beat Paris ones as Decaisne acknowledges. The Bird collection is superb [--] specimen stuffing & attitudes. Here is a Penguin perfect, such a specimen I never saw except alive, it is truly a wonderful pl[ace]. The Jardin des Plantes & this place are truly 2 epochs in my life, I must work very hard when I get home. I do not fear the Lectures*5 but I am backward in British Botany. Whatever you do, do not let Reeves have anything too cheap -- you can always come down afterwards & if [1 word illeg.]

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does not advertise[sic] it more than my work, it will not be much. I am heartily glad that any one will have it at all, it is very much thought of abroad as are our works & yourself. I shall be vey much obliged for some of your Lectures, i.e. if I do not use Graham's, but would prefer having Grahams & mingling some of yours with them, I should not like to supplant Graham while he lives, or to appear to lecture unconnected with him. I think by following his course & adding your popular bits & using your drawings copiously all parties might be pleased. Should you wish it, or think better for me, I feel sure I could write my lecture from week to week as Forbes did his first course; but I do not see the use of that, as I could not do better than yours. I am delighted that Heward has taken the agency. I have a capital Paris agent & will seek a Holland one, here or perhaps at Rotterdam. Two muscologists here want [George] Gardners's Brazilian mosses & will take others too, I often reminded Heward about the Agency but he never bit at all; he will make it answer.
I shall write again tomorrow night & tell you about my certain return, I shall certainly call on Brown if passing through town, if it be not too late at night. Many thanks to Mama for her letter --
Ever your most affectionate Son | Jos.D. Hooker [signature]

ENDNOTES


1. Sir William Jackson Hooker (1841--1865). Joseph Dalton Hooker's Father. Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University from 1820 to 1841 and the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1841 until his death in 1865, upon which his son Joseph succeeded him as Director.
2. The text adjacent to the right margin of page 4 has on most lines been obscured by the binding of the letters into a volume. The text in angle brackets in the transcript has been surmised from the context of the letter and with reference to a historic typescript copy of uncertain date c.1910s.
3. Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (1796--1862). German-Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life working in the Dutch East Indies and in the Netherlands, where he was Director of the Rijksherbarium (state herbarium) at Leiden.
4. Lovell Reeve & Co Publishing Company. Considered the leading natural history publishers of his time. Augustus Lovell Reeve (1814--1865), founder of the Lovell Reeve Publishing Company. In 1845 the Botanical Magazine was launched by William Hooker and Reeve later acquired it. When Lovell Reeve died, the management of the firm passed on to his partner, Francis Lesiter Soper and the editorship of the Botanical Magazine was passed to Joseph Hooker.
5. On returning to the United Kingdom Joseph Hooker was to give a series of lectures on Botany at the University of Edinburgh, standing in for the University's Regius Professor of Botany, Robert Graham, who was seriously ill and died later in 1845.

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