Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to A.K. Bulley, Ness, Neston, Cheshire, dated 20 September 1905.
Balfour promises to send copies of all the photographs relating to Forrest plants that RBGE produce. Balfour is finding it difficult to identify the rhododendrons sent by Forrest from descriptions only but hopes that Dr Henry [of the Paris Herbarium?] will be able to assist. ‘I have one twig from Forrest of a veritable “blue” Rhododendron. I hope you have seed of it.' Balfour states that he wishes Bulley would allow his name to appear on the herbarium labels as he is the sponsor of the collection. He reports receiving letters from Litton amplifying the news already received via telegram; they are with Forrest's family but Balfour will send them to Bulley when he can.
Letter has been scorched with some loss, there is also some water damage.
Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to A.K. Bulley, Ness, Neston, Cheshire, dated 17 August 1905.
Balfour writes to express his grief at the death of George Forrest and regret at the loss of ‘a born collector’. ... 'We have lost a really good man from whom I had looked for great horticultural prizes.'
Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to Arthur Kilpin Bulley, Ness, Neston, Cheshire, dated 05 September 1905.
Balfour writes to Bulley to discuss the difficulty of naming plants sent by Forrest, as not all plants from the Chinese flora have been previously identified, including those in collections made by Wilson, Henry, Soulie, Ducloux and others. Balfour sends photographs of mounted specimens and requests approval for a proposed style of label.
Plants referenced: Gentian; Primulaceae; Ranunculaceae.
Letter has some minor scorch damage.
Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to Arthur Kilpin Bulley Esq., 8A Rumford Place, Liverpool, dated 04 October 1905.
Balfour writes to acknowledge Bulley's previous letter and to discuss his identification of the Cyananthus sent by Forrest; Balfour's opinion is that revision of the nomenclature will ultimately be necessary.
Plant referenced: Cyananthus
Letter is slightly charred.
Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to Bees & Co. Ltd., Ness, Neston, Cheshire, dated 19 July 1905.
Balfour provides Bees with identifications of 5 plants, expressing his view that Forrest must have been collecting in some Chinese Garden... 'the anomalous source of the four plants has been rather perplexing'.
Plants referenced: Geum; Ipomaea; Moltkia; Oenothera; Verbascum
Letter is slightly charred.
Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to Messrs the Co-Operative Bees, Ltd., Ness, Neston, Cheshire, dated 03 October 1905.
Balfour writes with identifications of five plants sent by George Forrest: M.18 – Malva verticillata, Linn; M.113 – Oxyria Digyna, Hill; F.B.20 Cyananthus; F.B.120 Datura stramonium, Linn; F.B.31 Lysimachia; Balfour believes the cyananthus deserves a special name but hopes to settle its identification during a visit to Paris in December.
Plants referenced:
- M.18 – Malva verticillata, Linn;
- M.113 – Oxyria Digyna, Hill;
- F.B.20 Cyananthus;
- F.B.120 - Datura stramonium, Linn;
- F.B.31 Lysimachia
The letter is slightly charred.
Balfour, Sir Isaac BayleyCopy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to George Forrest, c/o Messrs Cook & Son, Tourist Agency, Rangoon, Burmah [sic] [Yangon, Myanmar] dated 26 September 1905.
Balfour writes sending the latest photographs of plants collected by Forrest and replies to his queries on species of clematis, thalictrum, delphinium, new aconites (nos. 270 and 280) and corydalis.
Plants referenced: clematis; corydalis; thalictrum; delphinium; new aconites
Forrest numbers referenced: F270, F280
Last page of letter scorched with some loss and minor water damage.
Copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, to Sir Eldon Gorst, K.C.B., The Foreign Office, Downing Street, London, dated 22 August 1905.
Balfour writes to thank Gorst for his telegram [GB 235 FRG/1/1/1/1905/28], the terms of which he has communicated to Forrest's family.
Letter has been scorched with some loss; there is also some staining which has adhered a fold in the paper
Typed copy letter from Isaac Bayley Balfour, [Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh], to Sir Eldon Gorst, K.C.B., The Foreign Office, Downing Street, London S.W. dated 19 August 1905.
Balfour writes to acknowledge with thanks and joy the receipt of Gorst’s telegram. (GB 235 FRG/1/1/1/1905/28) 'I am glad to think that a career which promised so much of value to science has not been prematurely closed, as seemed probable.'
Letter is on fragile paper and has been scorched with some loss.
Copy letter from Sir Eldon Gorst, Foreign Office, to Isaac Bayley Balfour, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, dated 21 August 1905.
Gorst writes at the request of the Marquess of Lansdowne to report the official news that Forrest arrived in Wei Hsi on 13 August and would be escorted to Tali [Dali] on 14 August.
Letter has been burned with some loss.