Collection GDS - George Don [Sr.] Collection

Two boxes (0.2m)

Collection consists of correspondence and papers about George Don (Sr), with some original material which appears to have been collated by then Regius Keeper Isaac Bayley Balfour between 1900 and 1910.

The Collection comprises one of Isaac Bayley Balfour’s scrapbooks in which he collects together copies of information, correspondence and postcards relating to George Don and correspondence relating to this search. The rest of the collection consists of 11 folders of correspondence, papers and photographs, some seemingly associated with the scrapbook, presumably being sent to or copied by Balfour as part of his investigation, but not filed within it, presumably due to their size or bulk. There are also photographs, biographical information, and an original plant catalogue and letter by Don.

In arranging this collection, the scrapbook was kept and numbered separately. The rest of the collection had been divided into folders, possibly by material type, possibly by originator of the material, but because the rationale for the division is not now known, an attempt was made to split the material by originator/provenance, so some material has been kept together purely because it was in the same folder, but because much of the material comprises transcriptions of articles / newspaper cuttings / original material ordered by Isaac Bayley Balfour, much of the provenance has now been lost. Now some of the items are in folders because they were generated or relate to one of Balfour’s Don correspondents; the rest have been divided by material type.