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Photographs of Christmas Island, letters, and documents relating to Tait's career on Christmas Island, Henderson Island and Las Vegas, 1906-1913.

drawings and photographs used to illustrate Mann's thesis and drawings on permatrace used in other publications.

Added in 2020 (RBGEA2020/007):

3 sets of postcards depicting algae or diatoms as follows:

• 3 envelopes of Algal picture postcards from M. Adei; Scanning electron micrographs of diatoms (1994); Marine algae in coral reef (1993); and Algal vegetation in cold current area (1993)
• pack of 12 poscards from the British Bryological Society (1994)
• pack of Stereographs of the Diatom World, The Educational Association of Algae (2002)

Three papers relating to Elgin Botanic Garden, New York:

• 'Hortus Elginensis: or a Catalogue of Plants, Indigenous and Exotic, cultivated in the Elgin Botanic Garden, in the vicinity of the City of New York', contains engraving showing Elgin Botanic Garden by William Satchwell Leney and Reinagle, 2nd edition enlarged, New York, 1811 - signed Dr Rutherford from D. Hosack
• 'A Statement of Facts relative to the Establishment and Progress of the Elgin Botanic Garden and the subsequent disposal of the same to the State of New York' by David Hosack M.D., New York, 1811 - signed Dr Rutherford from D. Hosack
• Pamphlet entitled 'Description of Elgin Garden, the property of David Hosack M.D., 4 pages and an engraving by William Satchwell Leney and L. Simond showing the Garden. 1802?

1 box containing constitution, reports, field reports of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh Cryptogamic SectionCryptogamic Society of Scotland (1875 - 1935) (incorporated into the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1935).
1 box containing laws, lists of members, conference reports (1903-1937) and photographs

2 boxes containing archives of St Helena, including letters from George Benjamin, notebooks, pictures and correspondence

•1 box of bequest and correspondence, Orkney, 1895-1992
•1 box containing Field/Collection notebooks from the Herbarium at RBGE, includes South Africa and Sierra Leone found amongst the A. Somerville archive, May 2009.

Temporary Numbering and Descriptions as follows:
Box 1 of 2:
• GH235 JHH/1 Correspondence, ms. and typescript, 1895–1939. Correspondents include Isaac Bayley Balfour, W. Edgar Evans, William Wright Smith, Subjects include collecting Orkney botanical specimens (subsequently presented to the Herbarium),the cultivation of various seeds (e.g., Tibetan “Trukchuka” barley, Poa flabellata, Carduus lanceolatus); newspaper cuttings, “The Educational Value of an Herbarium: Colonel Johnston and Nature’s Great Garden,” The Orkney Herald, 1 Sept. 1926; obituary of James Johnston, The Orcadian, 8 Sept. 1932
• GB 235 JHH/2 Correspondence and papers, ms. and typescript, 1939–1949, on H.H. Johnston’s bequest of specimens to the Herbarium, including the transfer of his Orkney herbarium from the Orkney Museum to Edinburgh. Correspondents include W. Edgar Evans, Geoffrey Evans, William Wright Smith, and Marie Johnston Steele. Includes obituary of H.H. Johnston (newspaper cutting), letters from various solicitors on the terms of H.H. Johnson’s will and bequest, and excerpt from “Trust Disposition and Settlement by Colonel Henry Halcro Johnston,” bequest to Regius Keeper, RBGE, typescript copy, 15 Jan. 1930.
• GB 235 JHH/3 Correspondence, typescript and ms., 1960–1992, on the disposition of H.H. Johnston’s papers and notebooks. Correspondents include Elaine R. Bullard, B.L. [Brian Lawrence] Burtt, H. R. Fletcher, W. Groundwater (Curator, Stromness Museum), Ian Hedge, R.C. Palmer, and Franklyn H. Perring (Botanical Society of the British Isles).
Box 2 of 2
• GB 235 JHH/4 Twenty-seven botanical field notebooks, ms.:
3 notebooks: Catalogue /Herbarium/South Africa: 1–434; 438–1455; 1456–1418 and Madagascar 1419–1822.
2 notebooks: Collecting Book/Sierra Leone: 3824–5627; 5648–5936.
22 numbered notebooks (no. 1 missing) of botanical specimens collected in Orkney by H.H. Johnston: Sept. 1914–Sept. 1938.

1 box of general correspondence, photographs, floral diagrams and correspondence between Darlington, Hall and B.L. Burtt about Collin’s material.
1 box of drawings and descriptions of crocus

1 box containing book of lichen dyed samples and list 'Native Plants used as Dyes in Tweed Making'

• file: 'The Dyeing Properties of some Scottish Lichens and of a few other materials' Pattern Book by T.S. Patterson D.Sc. Ph.D University of Glasgow
• report: Report on the Frequency of Occurrence of Dye-Producing Lichens in Scotland by Edward Stewart. M.A., B.Sc. Fellow of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.
• list: Native Plants used as Dyes in Tweed Making, includes extracts from papers describing experiments on the dyeing property of lichens by W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., Assistant Physician, Crichton Royal Institution, Dumfries, 1854-1855, and list of lichens which yield dyes based on Les Lichens Utiles by F. Henneguy, Paris, 1883, and Further list of Highland Native Dyes from Occasional Papers by R.C. Maclagan pp. n.d. Paper on 'Highland Dyeing' read before Royal Scottish Society of Arts, 1898 [various versions of these lists - will need sorting before proper listing and cataloguing]
• report: 'Notes on Occurrence and Distribution in Scotland of Dye-Producing Lichens, Supplementary to report on Occurrence of Lecanora tartarea Ach. by E.J.A. Stewart, M.A., B.Sc.
• report: 'The Dyeing Properties of some Scottish Lichens and of a few other materials' by T.S. Paterson, D.Sc. Ph.D., University of Glasgow
• documentation showing that Brian Coppins bought this batch of material from an Antiquarian Booksellers in 1998.

3 small notebooks numbered 1-3, and a letter
1:"Herb. Irvine 1"
Collecting Book 1 - Nos 1-862 1949-1965; incl. St Andrews, Bangor, Anglesey, Isle of Man, Eden Estuary, Aberystwyth, Merioneth, Pembrokeshire, Capri (Italy), Brittany (France), Galway, Mayo, Manitoba (Canada), Cape Cod (Massachusetts), Orkney and Voe (Shetland)
2:"Herb.Irvine 2"
Collecting Book 2 - Nos 863-1847 1964-1968; incl. Anglesey, Pembrokeshire, Portsmouth, Dover-Folkestone, Cramond Island, Dunbar, North Berwick, Scilly, Devon and Paignton
3:"Herb.Irvine 3"
Collecting Book 3 - Nos 1848-1940 (Misc Order) 1963-1969 inc. Firth of Forth?
4:letter from Linda M. Irvine which accompanied herbarium consignment, filed in RBGE Archives Accessions folder under RBGEEA2015/23

Newspaper and paper wrappers from an unmounted collection from the herbarium of Dr. Hugh Francis Clarke Cleghorn.
A box of unmounted specimens from Cleghorn's herbarium and annotated as from ‘Cumbaukum Droog’ [Kambakkam Durgam] was discovered in the basement longstore at RBGE in 2025. It was assessed by Henry Noltie; the specimens were mounted and added to the herbarium collection, and the newspapers and folders used by Cleghorn to wrap his collection were seen as significant enough to be added to the Archive. Henry described the process in a Botanics Story: (right click, open link in new tab) https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/40144
The Collection includes manuscript lists relating to the Cumbaukan flora and a journal article cutting, made by Cleghorn, from the 1835 volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society: an article titled an ‘Account of the Ragery Hills, near Madras’ by a Colonel Monteith.
The specimens were contained in newspaper flimsies dating between 1853 and 1859, most of which were placed in covers made of Indian ‘country’ paper annotated with the numbers and names of 20 plant families. Although the specimens were collected in December 1853, the majority of the newspapers date from 1858/9, presumably when Cleghorn undertook some herbarium curation. They are trimmed to uniform size, c 27 x 44 cm – some more or less whole sheets folded, others cut in half (when the titles are often missing).
The newspapers are of considerable interest, assuming that they were subscribed to by Cleghorn, rather than bought as scrap paper. Two certainly were his as they are inscribed with his name, title, and address while on tour as Conservator of Forests in Salem and Ooty. These tell us something about his reading habits and suggest a great thirst for news both Indian and from Britain. Also used was also a pamphlet advertising a Madras ‘Periodical Horse Mart’ revealing a previously unknown, though unsurprising, interest in horse flesh; and proof that he subscribed to the Gardeners’ Chronicle, suspected but previously unproven. Of the Indian newspapers was one published in Bangalore (The Bangalore Herald) and seven in Madras (Madras Circulator, The Commercial Gazette, United Service Gazette, The Athenaeum, The Madras Times, The Madras Spectator and the official government Fort St George Gazette). Of those published in Britain the largest number of sheets are from The Overland Mail, with smaller numbers from four others (The Indian News, The Morning Herald, The Record and The Examiner). There is also a single half-sheet from an unidentified Fife newspaper to show that he kept up with news from Scotland.
The articles in the papers dating from 1858/9 are of particular interest, with many articles discussing the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny. Interesting though the ‘news’ items are, the papers are equally intriguing for the advertisements and aspects of social history revealed. described here are only a few items that were noticed while cataloguing the plants: a meeting of the Madras Photographic Society attended by Sir Walter Elliot (6 April 1858); the opening of the organ by William Hill in St George’s Cathedral (13 September 1858); stained glass fanlights for the cathedral designed by Archibald Cole, Professor Fine Arts in the Madras School of Industrial Art, made by Nathaniel Wood Lavers of London (later Lavers, Barraud & Westlake) (21 January 1859); an advertisement by J. Deschamps offering three pianos by Erard (1 mahogany grand of 7 octaves; 1 mahogany grand square of 6¾ octaves; 1 rosewood cottage of 6¾ octaves) and 1 mahogany grand square by Broadwood (May 1854); J.J. Fonceca & Co offering ‘Likenesses either in Oil, Water Colors, or Crayon … Landscape and Cattle Drawings … charges so regulated with a view to place their services within reach of all (21 January 1859); an auction by Oakes, Partridge and Co. offered a by then very old fashioned ‘square piano by T. Tomkison, in good order’ (6 July 1853).