• GB 235 BAL/1 Folder: "Misc. Papers"; including:
Typescripts of extracts from various sources, including
copy Biography of Andrew Balfour by Patrick Neill;
Early Days of the Royal College of Physicians by Peel Ritchie, Edinburgh;
Some Passages from the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester by Gilbert Burnett (pp4-6);
Balfour's notice in Anderson's Scottish Nation;
marriage and death notices, from Mr John Lamont’s Diary;
auctions of books belonging to Sir Andrew and his brother, Sir James, the Edinburgh Gazette, 1699;
Extracts from Foulis of Ravelston’s Account Book, 1671–1707.
• GB 235 BAL/2 Folder:
Ms. copy of extracts from Memoria Balfouriana (and English translations);
transcript of letter from Robert Sibbald regarding the Memoria Balfouriana, 1699;
“Pharmacy in Edinburgh in the Olden Time,” by James Mackenzie, The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions, (1871-1872), Vol.11, pp.444-469, typescript;
founding of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, from Robert Sibbald’s autobiography, pp.20-22, typescript photocopy.
•Biographical notes, a copy of his memoir, correspondence regarding his memoir (1874-1932), and a draft copy of catalogue of plants (1912), copies of letters, a copy of his catalogue prepared by I.B. Balfour and William D. Kemp, and a copy of ‘Faculty of Advocates: Cabinet of Coins (James Sutherland)’ (1856)
Sans titre1 box
• Typescript and ms. copies of papers and correspondence, including descriptions of William Arthur’s petition to the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, to practise medicine; Arthur’s involvement in the Jacobite plot to seize Edinburgh Castle in 1715; copy of indentures between Mr Patrick Arthur and John Pearson (ms., Privy Council Register, 1681); extracts from various publications on the history of Edinburgh and of the 1715 rebellion; reprint of “William Arthur, M.D., Botanist to the King in Scotland, 1715–1716,” by Professor Bayley Balfour, Transactions and Proceedings, Bot. Soc. of Edinburgh, vol. 26, part 4 (1914–15) right-click, open page in new tab: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/53752#page/513/mode/1up ; Arthur family genealogy.
• Scrapbook, including extracts from various publications on the Jacobite Uprising of 1715 and the attempt to seize Edinburgh Castle (see above); correspondence, including letters regarding William Arthur’s funeral expenses and burial, and correspondence regarding Arthur’s memoir on the failed attempt to capture Edinburgh Castle (1897–1915); historical notes on the rebellions of 1715 and 1745; genealogical documents on the Arthur family (of Elie), including copies of testaments and family trees. Typescripts with ms. annotations and mss.
Box 1 of 2 (A04)
•GB 235 ALS/1 “Botanist Royal,” biography of Charles Alston, by J.M. Alston. Typescript copy (London, February 1980) from the original(?), deposited in the National Library of Scotland.
•GB 235 ALS/2 Plantarum Medicinalium Etc., with ms. annotations. Text block with spine, loose front cover, missing back cover, 120 pp.
•GB 235 ALS/3 20th century copy of manuscript widow’s petition by Mrs. Alston to H.M. Treasury asking for an allowance to maintain the Physick Garden at Holyrood House, 1762.
•GB 235 ALS/4 Typescript and ms. copies of papers and correspondence, including biography of Charles Alston; history of the Alstons of Thinacre-Milne; list of Alston’s works; advertisement by John Hope for the publication of Alston’s Lectures on the Materia Medica, 1770; “Catalogus sive Index Plantarum.”
•GB 235 ALS/5 Typescript and ms. copies of papers and correspondence regarding the history of the RBGE, 1716–1909. Includes manuscript copies in Isaac Bayley Balfour's hand, of Alston's Royal Warrants from the Register of the Privy Seal, and Alston' typewritten entry from Allibone's Dictionary, and copies of letters from Kinnear (1890), and to D.W. Kemp (1904) and Britten (1909)
•GB 235 ALS/6 Typescript and ms. papers and correspondence, including biographical sketches and notes on the life of Charles Alston; catalogue of works by Alston, c. 1908–1913. includes correspondence from Isaac Bayley Balfour to Prof. Eggeling at Edinburgh University to ask permision to copy relevant information pertaining to Alston and presumably history of RBGE from documents held at the University.
•GB 235 ALS/7 Papers and correspondence, including letter from Charles Alston, 1726 (photographic copy); ms. letter to Prof Balfour from Alex. P. Stevenson regarding “the Alston M/S and the Bower,” 1907; extracts from Mackay’s Journey through Scotland (printed 1723, 1729); typescript and ms. notes on the appointment of Charles Alston as Professor at the University of Edinburgh.
Box 2 of 2 (A05) - items transcribed from Edinburgh University holdings c.1908
•GB 235 ALS/8 Typescript copies of Alston correspondence, including botanical descriptions, discussions of the “sexes of plants,” and experiments with lime water, originally dating 1715-1756. "Copies of 'Alston letters' from University Ms These are not enter[?] in the Ms Life" in Isaac Bayley Balfour's hand. Correspondents include Boerhaave, Thomas Simpson, John Mitchell, J. Fothergill, Phillip Miller, John Hawkeens, Keir, John Ellis, Archibald Hamilton, Alexander Garden, William Cullen and Richard Henderson.
•GB 235 ALS/9 Life of Charles Alston, including copies of correspondence (1724–1760). Correspondents include John Fothergill, John Hawkeens, Stephen Hales, Alexander Garden, and Philip Miller. Subjects discussed include experiments with lime water and its medicinal uses, herbal remedies, the making of elaterium (a plant extract used as a purgative), the properties of amber and ginseng, botanical lore, Materia Medica, and Alston’s hostility to the Linnaean system. Typescript with ms. corrections, 107 pp.; ms. notes entitled “Mr Jeffrey’s comparison of the MS. Life of Alston,” 4 pp.
•GB 235 ALS/10 Life of Charles Alston. Typescript copy (see above) "Alston's Life, from an old manuscript - Isaac Bayley Balfour's hand).
•1 box of correspondence with The Royal Scottish Arboriculture Society
•1 box of correspondence with the Annals of Botany
•1 box of correspondence with The University of Glasgow
•1 box of correspondence with Sir David Prain(1857-1944)
•2 boxes of correspondence regarding the Rodriguez (Transit of Venus) Expedition (1874) Papers
•5 boxes of correspondence including miscellaneous papers, reprints, lectures and drawings, regarding Socotra
•26 boxes and 1 book of correspondence with various people and organisations
•2 boxes of miscellaneous personal papers
•1 box of miscellaneous papers regarding applications for chairs
•2 boxes of miscellaneous lectures and lecture notes
•1 box of miscellaneous notes, extracts, reports and addresses
•1 box of plant lists and local plant names
•1 box of post-retirement correspondence with Sir William Wright Smith(1875-1956)
•1 box of miscellaneous papers, reprints and notes
•1 box of papers regarding the Botanic Society Edinburgh Billets 1836-76 (Isaac Bayley Balfour’s personal copies)
•1 box of various distribution maps and schematic drawings
•4 boxes Isaac Bayley Balfour 'grandfather’s' papers and notes [I believe 'grandfather is likely Isaac Bayley Balfour, and it's how the donor referred to him, as opposed to it being IBB's grandfather] - to one of these boxes ("box 8 of 16") has been added (June 2019) an auction catalogue from Dulau and Co. Ltd. "Recent Useful Gardening Books"; "Botanical & Horticultural Works from the libraries of the late Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour FRS, C. Harman Payne FRHS, William Watson of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and other sources" No. 132, Part I, October 1925.
•1 box of M/S papers – monograph on figures
•1 folder of a collection of original drawings by John Nugent Fitch(1849-1927), for Botany of Socotra
•Personal diary of a visit to Socotra in 1880
•1 box of reprints and correspondence regarding Socotra
•I.B. Balfour ‘New Species of Rhododendron’ (copy belonged to G. Forrest so filed in the Forrest collection)
•3 letters dated 1877 -1878 from Joseph Decaisne, to I. Bayley Balfour filed with “Balfour, I. Bayley” correspondence under “Decaisne, J”
Correspondence from Archibald Dickson, (brother of Prof. Alex. Dickson, Regius Keeper 1880 -87) re: late brother’s affairs dated 1889 filed with “Balfour, I. Bayley” correspondence under “Dickson, Archibald”
File containing correspondence from J.R. Anderson regarding photographs and notes by C.C. Pemberton on abnormal growths of trees growing near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. N.B. In Anderson's first letter there is a reference to the fate of John Jeffrey in 1851 as recorded by Anderson's father.
the file contains letters from Anderson, copies of letters between Anderson and Pemberton, around 50 of Pemberton's photographs showing the tree growth and a report from Borthwick with his interpretation of the photographs.
- James Robert Anderson, 1841-1930, the son of A.C. Anderson, left Fort Nisqually in 1850 to attend school in Victoria for two years. He returned in 1858 and remained until his death. He was an accountant and businessman, and from 1894 until 1908, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. He had a keen interest in natural history. His father, Alexander C. Anderson, was an early B.C. land surveyor. (right click, open link in new tab) https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/anderson-james-robert-1841-1930]
- Chartres Cecil Pemberton, 1864-1943, was a barrister, law clerk to the legislature, aboriculturist and realtor (right click, open link in new tab) https://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/pemberton-c-c
•Box containing letters and miscellaneous papers
Sans titre•Box of personal papers and correspondence
•Box of papers regarding excursions (1829-32)
•Box of papers regarding his North American Tour (1834)
•Box of papers regarding his North American Tour (second copies)
•Box containing Tour Diaries (1836-38)
•Box containing a Journal of Tours, including his Germany Tour (1839-40)
•Box containing a Journal of Tours (1848)
•Box of Annual Reports to Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society (RCHS) for 1841 and 1842
•Box of miscellaneous papers; into this box ("box 9 of 9") has been added (June 2019) a typescript list entitled "Plants of McNab's Herbarium"; it has an old id number of 37,994, was stored in the Library Office and is dated to February 1953. It is in 4 stapled bundles (caution - be wary of staples) and lists what was presumably herbarium specimens from James McNab's collection.
•Box of miscellaneous papers, including correspondence and a photograph of a tree-transplanter
•Folder containing McNab’s Testimonials
•Bound volume of his ‘Journal of Tour Through North America, 1834’
•Scrapbook titled ‘McNab Cuttings’
•Untitled scrap book