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3 printed annual reports (3 x 4 pages, 200 x 250mm) of The Botanical Museum & Library at Cambridge University; dated 25 March 1828, 25 March 1829, 25 March 1830. The 1828 report outlines the start of a proper funded botanical museum. Prof Henslow lists present acquisitions and solicits help in augmenting the collection. The 1829-30 reports demonstrate success in increasing the collection of plant samples and publications.
2 labels for identifying part of the process of India Rubber / Gutta Percha production and 7 book plates on note paper forming a small collection. Book plates: Churchill Babington, John Hutton Balfour, Henry Collins, Daniel Cresswell, Sir Compton Domvile, William Watson and 1 unidentified. Accrual: Article: 'India Rubber' by James Collins, formerly Government Economic Botanist and Librarian, Straits Settlement, etc. as published in 'The Cottager and Artisan', September 1897, pp.107-108, published by the Religious Tract Society, London. Also, a card with a poem on it: 'The Twins' by J. Rushton, on the back of which is a Note about the opening hours of the India Office Museum.
Seven samples of wood displayed at the International Forestry Exhibition held in Edinburgh in 1884 - all are labelled with "Sierra Leone, Edinburgh Forestry Exhibition, 1884" - additional markings are as follows:
No 5, Gree-Gree, Greegree, 1884.83.31
Beck, 1884.83.32
Koronko, Coronko, Kronko, 1884.83.39
Oak, [Teak scored out], 1884.83.41
Conta-Cobang, Contabang, Cotan Cobang, 1884.83.43
Koondee, Cundee, 1884.83.46
White Brimstone, 1884.83.47 The Exhibition Catalogue indicates that the Government of Sierra Leone had a stand at the exhibition where they displayed "Specimens of the Woods of the Colony, native, polished 1865, redone 1884" - it is assumed that these may have been part of this display.
The collection comprises photographs and reports related to the gathering and preparation of Sphagnum moss, in and around the Moffat/Beattock area, S.W. Scotland, which was used as a medical dressing for wounds during the First World War.
A collection of 13 letters purchased at auction in 2008, written by Reginald Farrer and most likely sent to the British Diplomat Ernest Frederick Gye C.M.G., though Farrer tends to refer to him as his “Poison”, “Viper” or “Venom”. Gye's mother was the singer Dame Emma Albani and his father was Ernest Gye, the lessee of Covent Garden theatre. Gye entered the Foreign Office in 1903, became Second Secretary in 1908 and Councillor in 1924. He served for some years in Tehran in the earlier part of his career (and where he was when these letters were written) before being appointed Minister and Consul General in Tangier in 1933. Three years later he was made Minister Plenipotentiary in Venezuela, retiring in 1939. The 13 letters were written in Upper Burma (now Myanmar), mainly from Hpimaw and Nyitadi, and date between May 1919 and September 1920, the last being written only five weeks before his death. The letters are liberally peppered with nicknames and gossip, and the identity of everyone mentioned may never be known; for example, his 1919 travelling companion, fellow plant collector Euan Cox, is often referred to by the name “Jumps”. In amongst intimate information and personal references are descriptions of the country, people met and plants collected.
The albums appear to be from William Purdom who travelled and collected plants with Reginald Farrer in Kansu / Gansu, northern China in 1914-1915, but one was compiled by Reginald Farrer and three relate to their collecting trip, so all 5 albums have been stored within the Reginald Farrer collection.
box containing progress reports of the Scottish Seaweed Research Association based at the Institute of Seaweed Research in Musselburgh. There are also Newsletters, and correspondence with William Wright Smith, all arranged chronologically.
1 album containing ephemera to do with the Balfour professors; John Hutton Balfour, Isaac Bayley Balfour and John Cleland, plus other papers of interest.
