Folder of notes comprising Ian Hedge's attempts to discover more about a set of Egyptian specimens in the RBGE Herbarium, mostly incorporating the name of Delile [or Delille, Delisle], but sometimes also, Vahl, Desfontaines, Lippi, Vaillantes or Zorsbial [Forskal?] 'Scattered throughout the Edinburgh herbarium are a number of specimens, probably a few score, which appear from the evidence of the labels, to be an early Egyptian collection. In common with some other of the older collections they are often mounted on sheets which have other specimens and labels on them.' The file includes letters written to other institutions by Ian Hedge with their responses between 1983 and 1986.
The collection also includes a set of correspondence between ,B.L. Burtt and Dr Hagerup, Copenhagen, dating to 1955 and relating to similar/connected collections made by Schumacher, Vahl and Forskal.
Four photographs, each around 6cm square, showing the Palm House, the Palm Houses from the North East Corner Propagation yard, and two glasshouses interiors including the Cactus House, taken by Thomas Bartlett in around 1955. Bartlett worked for a company called Burgess & Co. of Bracknell after his National Service. The company installed large industrial boilers and he worked on their installation at RBGE.
Zonder titelone folder entitled 'Olive Hilliard's notes on the complex herbarium specimens of J.F. Drège from South Africa' containing "The Innocent's Guide to the Collections of Drege, Ecklon and Zeyher", reprints and copies of reprints: Drege, Ecklon and Zeyher, 'Numbered collecting stations/Standorter-Verzeichniss der von C.L.Zehyer in Sudafrika gesammelten Pflanzen'; Ecklon, C.F. 'Plants found in the District of Uitenhage...1829-30' from South African Quarterly, 1830; Drege, Witteberg, etc; Drege, J.F. 'Standorter-Verzeichniss der von J.F.Drege' - "Drege Area 1" and "Drege Area 5b"; "Drege's Journeys"-Kirby, Percival R 'Early Professional Museum Collectors in South Africa' in South Africa Museums Association Bulletin, 1942; 'Herbarien der sudafrikanischen aussertropischen Flora zu haben bei J.F. Drege...in Hamburg'
Zonder titelThe list is titled 'Lindberg Itinerary' and is essentially a list of field numbers alongside a location and date.
The locations all appear to be in and around Afghanistan.
There is a note attached to the list in Ian Hedge's handwriting that states: 'These lists of Lindberg collections refer to his zoological and not botanical gatherings. They are therefore only useful in knowing where he collected on particular days. No comprehensive lists of his botanical collections exist, but a paper by Rechinger and Riedl (Ann. Nat. Mus. Wien 65:29-37 (1962) deals with the plants he collected in the Wakhan area.'
Library acc no. ECEU1: (right click, open link in new tab) https://rbge.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=78813&query_desc=kw%2Cwrdl%3A%20lindberg
This collection comprises some items that accompanied a donation to the RBGE Herbarium (01700) in April 2024; the folder in the RBGE Archives includes Ogilvie's passport, 1968-1978 and a letter that was found inside a pamphlet that was part of the donation (Min. Agr & Fisheries Bull. no.123 6th ed. 1969); John G.S. Marshall to L. Ogilvie, 31/12/1971, discussing the popularity of the Bulletin, plans for a Spanish version and a revision.
Two copies of Diseases of Vegetables, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Bulletin No. 123 were included in the accession; the first, (2nd ed. 1944) is annotated and to be catalogued and housed in the RBGE Library Periodicals section alongside the second (6th ed. 1969).
The accession also includes a print out of Ogilvie's Wikipedia page (in the Archives folder), and a cover note from his son, W. Duncan Ogilvie (in the Archives Accession file), who donated the collection in April 2024.
12 black and white photographs that appear to have once been the property of Frederick Orpen Bower, four of them being used as figures in his 1925 publication 'Plants and Man'. The photographers appear to be mainly Skeen and Scowen of the Colombo Apothecaries Co. Ltd, Ceylon [Sri Lanka].
Descriptions of the photographs are as follows:
- Peradeniya Gardens; ‘No. 20’; marked ‘Frontispiece’ with annotated instructions for reproduction in ‘Plants and Man’ by Bower; photo credited in the publication as being ‘Bases of the stems of the Giant Bamboo (Dendrocalamus), in Peradeniya Gardens, Ceylon, with a garden-coolie standing at their foot. Photograph by Mr. Skene.’ [Skeen]. Photograph glued to contemporary stiff board.
- Corypha umbraculifera (Talipot); marked with C.A. Co. (?) Ceylon and stamped with [Apothe]caries Co. Photographers, [Colombo,] Ceylon; ‘218’ glued to reverse; annotated with printing instructions; edited version used as Fig.22A (p.48) in ‘Plants and Man’ as ‘A Talipot Palm (Corypha umbaculifera) in the flowering state’; photograph credited to Mr Skene [Skeen]. Photograph glued to contemporary stiff board.
- Corypha umbraculifera. The last stage of the Talipot; marked with ‘& Co. Ceylon’ - name obscured, and stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; edited version used as Fig.22B (p.49) in ‘Plants and man’ as ‘The same Palm after fruiting. The photographs were taken by Mr. Skene [Skeen], Ceylon.’ Photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
- Bamboo Stems; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; ‘217’ glued to reverse, annotated with printing instructions; edited version used as Fig.86 (p.215) in ‘Plants and man’ as ‘Photograph showing the Bases of Bamboo Stems which may grow over 100 feet high. The stems are marked by rings, each of which is a leaf insertion, and the hollow stem is there supported by a hard transverse plate or septum. Note that at the base, where the leverage will be greatest, the septa are nearest together, so that the resistance will be greatest there. One of the young conical shoots has been cut so as to show the septa, crowded before the shoot has elongated.’ No photography credit given.
- ‘Nos 19 and 20, Giant Bamboos’; this photo marked ‘No.19’; ‘219’ glued to reverse; annotated with printing instructions, including ‘Schimper, make block from this, not from book’; used as Fig.87 (p.217) in ‘Plants and man’ as ‘Group of Giant Bamboos (Dendrocalamus giganteus) in the Royal Botanic Garden, Peradeniya, Ceylon. Note the man at the foot of the clump which gives the scale : also the successively shorter internodes at the base of the stems, and the curvatures above. (After Schimper.) Compare Frontispiece, and Fig. 86’. Photograph glued to contemporary stiff board.
- Corypha umbraculifera; young Talipot palms, No.519; marked with C.A. Co. Ltd, Ceylon, but other letters seem to have been scored out; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
- Caryota urens (Kitul) 144; marked with C.A. Co. Ltd, Ceylon; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
- Caryota urens. Branches of the Influorescense of the Kitul Palm shewing development of fruit. marked with Scowen & Co. Ltd (almost scored out), Ceylon; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
- Oreodoxa regia; Avenue of Cabbage Palms, Peradeniya Gardens; further annotated with ‘Cabbage Palms, Peradeniya Gardens (Scowen); marked with Scowen & Co. Ltd? (scored out), Ceylon; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet
- Cocos nucifera; Cocoa-nut Palm, 143; marked with C.A. Co. Ltd, Ceylon; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
- Lodoicea seychellarum – Double Cocoa-nut Palm, 125; marked with Scowen & Co. But scored out so it reads C.A. Co. Ltd; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
- Ravenala madagascariensis (Traveller’s Palm) 557?; marked with Scowen & Co. But scored out so it reads C.A. Co. Ltd, Ceylon; stamped with ‘Botanical Department, University Glasgow.’ and ‘Apothecaries Co. Photographers, Colombo, Ceylon’; photograph glued to herbarium sheet.
Manuscript titled 'Localities for New or Rare Mosses in Scotland'.
The names Alexander McKinlay, James Stirton and John Shaw are mentioned as collectors in the manuscript, alongside three dates, 1861, 1864 and 1868. Although not definite, the handwriting in the documents compares very favourably to that of James Hardy (1815-1898), Secretary of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club and compiling a work on Mosses of Berwickshire at the end of the 1860s.
Rita Calder was a mounter in the Herbarium and documented her mounting numbers in notebooks before the advent of an electronic Mounting Backlog spreadsheet now held on SharePoint. LIVE Mounting Backlog Spreadsheet.xlsx
These notebooks are handwritten and document the year and date collections were submitted for mounting and then when they were completed (1983 – 2008). From 2007 the new mounter Kate Eden also completed entries, obvious by a change in handwriting. They also make references to specimens which were repaired and which member of staff submitted them.
There appear to be two sets of books. The ones with In/Out columns are specimens mounted in any given month/year. The other books are a record of specimens coming into the Mounting Room in any given year. They record the country of origin and the donor or member of RBGE staff who submitted them. They could be viewed in the context of the Incoming Specimen/Donation books already held in the Archive.