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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.

5 boxes of slides, totalling around 400 slides, and an envelope "Botanic Garden Notes" (now in Box 1) of news clippings relating to the opening of the Glasshouses.

47 photographs / studies of members of RBGE staff, mainly gardeners / probationer gardeners, some named, but many not.
Names include David Sydney Fish (x2), W. Douglas, Murray, David Wilkie, James D. McKenzie, James Esplin, D.M. Ross, William Ritchie, H.B. Anderson, Andrew R. Cosh, Thomas Sherlock, Douglas Law, William Fernie and Alexander Reid.

•Collection of photographs, glass plate negatives and lantern slides [to be arranged] (includes 2 photos taken by Roland Edgar Cooper, and one by A.W. Borthwick)

Collection of glass plate negatives taken between c.1890 and c.1949 detailing plants and views at RBGE.

3 photographs taken at RBGE by George T. Malthouse in the 1890s, all showing the transportation of trees around RBGE: Araucaria imbricata, Quercus cerris and Crataegus oxyacantha, all with gardeners around the transporter.

The photographs cover a wide variety of activity at RBGE and many were used in the book 'How the Garden Grew' by L. Paterson. There are student groups, work in the Rock Garden c.1938-39, the Palm House, shots around the garden including snow clearing, staff/students prior to the Second World War including Henry W. Moseley, William G. Webster, James G. Crabbe, W.S. Neil, John E.G. Beach, Ronald J. Smith and also Jack Roberts. Trip to Loch Lomond (Guild?), Laboratory Shots and Jack Roberts dressed up as the Rag Queen on May Day 1948.

•Folder containing photographs of trees, (1901), used in Percy [Groom’s] ‘Trees and their Life Histories’ (1907), found in the National Museum of Scotland. [accession 2005/08]
•Four small folders containing photos of plants and flowers, dated 1901 on the front but all dated on the back 24/11/1923 and stamped ‘The Royal Scottish Museum’ [already at RBGE by 2005]
•Four large folders containing photos of plants and flowers dated 1901 on the front but all dated on the back 24/11/1923 and stamped ‘The Royal Scottish Museum’ [already at RBGE by 2005]

This collection consists of material created and gathered from the expeditions of F. Ludlow and G. Sherriff, thought their expeditions of Bhutan and Tibet during 1933-1949.

The collection consists of 5 sub-series: plant documents, expedition documents, diaries, correspondence and visual material.

[1] This series consists of a variety of material which includes plant and seed lists from their expedition with a large focus on Primula, Meconopsis and Rhododendrons, as well as publications gathered by Ludlow and Sherriff which cover their shared interest in the Himalayan region and it's flora and fauna. There is also a garden register donated by the Knox Finlay family detailing the progress of plants/seeds in their gardens acquired from various expeditions including Ludlow and Sherriff's between 1951-52.

[2] This series consists of a variety of expedition documents ranging from itineraries and maps to administration lists and passports.

[3] This series consists of originals and photocopies of the diaries of Sherriff and Ludlow during their expeditions.

[4] This series consists of a variety of correspondence from and to Sherriff and Ludlow over the course of their expeditions.

[5] This series consists of a variety of material including: photographic material, films and videos. Photographic material ranges from prints and negatives taken by Sherriff and Ludlow to prints of digital images taken as exhibition documentation in 2014. The films are..... There have been dvd surrogates made of the films to ensure continued accessibility.

20 photographs showing the development of the Rock Garden in around 1938-39 (x17) the arrival of the large stone trough from House o'Hill for the alpine yard c.1936? (x2) and Primula reidii taken by David Wilkie