Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC979
The Camp, Sunningdale, Berkshire, United Kingdom
H. N. ELLACOMBE LETTERS ELL f.24
Ellacombe, Reverend Henry Nicholson
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
19-11-1893
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Letters to H. N. Ellacombe
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Original MS
3 page letter over 1 folio
 
Transcript


Nov[embe]r 19/[18]93
THE CAMP,
SUNNINGDALE. Dear Mr Ellacombe*1 Linnaeus habitually used Beatus[?] for the [1 word illeg.] -- so did Robert Brown[?], & you will find it in Hasselqvist*2 & other old authors, as well as in more modern. It is as familiar to me & to Mr Jackson as Sanctus is for a Saint. I asked Mr Jackson to turn up instances for another [1 word illeg.] & he got a round dozen at once -- I took the precaution of asking the authorities

Page 1


Nov[embe]r 19/[18]93
THE CAMP,
SUNNINGDALE. Dear Mr Ellacombe*1 Linnaeus habitually used Beatus[?] for the [1 word illeg.] -- so did Robert Brown[?], & you will find it in Hasselqvist*2 & other old authors, as well as in more modern. It is as familiar to me & to Mr Jackson as Sanctus is for a Saint. I asked Mr Jackson to turn up instances for another [1 word illeg.] & he got a round dozen at once -- I took the precaution of asking the authorities

Page 2

of the Clarendon Press to review the latin[?] title -- and they made no objection. title You say that in "the double dedication the English is "in memory of" -- -- of which the Latin is in memoriam beati &c" -- but you have written without the book -- the English is "At the Expense of" & the Latin "Sumptibus. --
I am gradually improving my Garden, but getting better soil to mix with my sand gravel & peat. & should you have to lift any of your hardy perennials that would not be the worse of division you would much oblige me by putting aside a few for me. I am

Page 3

not in the least particular as to which I get. -- My beds are the borders of shrubberies at a respectful distance from the roots of the bigger things.
Plants are queer things -- Backhouse gave me a patch of Gentiana verna[?] about as big as my hand some 8 years ago. My Gardener planted it in a very wrong place, in a very dry Pine wood. There it has lived ever since increasing slowly & flowering last year. I hear every one complain of the difficulty of keeping it & here it lives on in an inconceivably unsuitable place! I cannot say it flourishes but it is healthy & well.
With united kind regards to you all
Ever sincerely y[our]s | Jos.[eph] D. Hooker [signature]

ENDNOTES

1. Henry Nicholson Ellacombe (1822-1916), a Church of England clergyman, gardener and author who continued the legacy of his father in succeeding him as Reverend of Bitton in 1850 and inherited the garden that his father established. Ellacombe frequently corresponded with leading horticulturalists including the Hookers at Kew, and often exchanged specimens with these horticulturalists. 2. This probably references the work of Fredrik Hasselquist (1722-1752),
a Swedish traveller and naturalist. Hasselquist travelled to countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean and his account of these journeys was published posthumously by Carl Linnaeus.
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