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Sanderson's Prize essay manuscript, ‘The Origin and Development of the Embryo in Phanerogamous Plants’, submitted in July 1849 as part of his Botany course for his Medical degree at the University of Edinburgh. Sanderson has illustrated the manuscript with pencil illustrations drawn from the microscope.
Impressed by the content, Hutton Balfour deemed it worthy of a prize, with part of the content read at a meeting of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in February 1850.

Documents found inside a copy of Gerarde's Herbal (1633) bought at auction of Captain Henry Trotter of Mortoun Hall's Library on February 10 1947, alongside an extract from a letter presumably sent to RBGE with the documents.
• TRO/1: 'Hardy Tree Seeds of Plants from America for Season 1760': List of seeds and plants imported from America in 1760 and sold by Mrs Drummond, Seed Merchant, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh
• TRO/2: 'A List of the Different kinds of Fruit Trees wanted for the different aspects of the Wall round the new Kitchen Garden at Mortounhall 1772': List of fruit required for Mortonhall, 1772.
• TRO/3: Abstract from Mrs J.W. Hely-Hutchinson’s letter, 26 February 1947: 'The Gerarde's Herbal in which the papers were found is dated 1633 and was bought at Christie's from the sale of the library of Captain Henry Trotter of Mortoun Hall on Feb. 10th, 1947.'

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.

The Jimmy Ratter Archive represents a valuable collection that is of particular interest for the insight it offers into the entwined botanical and social histories of the Brazilian cerrado. The collection is diverse and idiosyncratic, and spans Jimmy’s professional and personal archives. The contents of the collection include correspondence, field diaries, funding proposals, financial records, drafts and edits of papers for publication, lecture notes, teaching materials, scientific data, photographic material, botanical and biological specimens, PhD manuscripts, and original illustrations.
The materials represented in the collection relate to Jimmy’s work in Brazil, including the various conservation projects he was involved in, and the many expeditions and collecting trips he participated in. Other items in the collection cover Jimmy’s early career, his various roles at the RBGE (including his teaching and supervisory roles), and the administration of the RBGE more generally.

•1 box of miscellaneous papers and glass plate negatives regarding Bhutan, 1949, also 3 reels of film, now converted to DVD:

• Diary Materials 1, 1949
• Diary Materials 2, 1949
• Transcript of Diaries by David Shepherd - not for reproduction
• letters, mainly from George and Betty Sherriff, Frank Ludlow and David Humphreys
• Christmas cards, mainly from George and Betty Sherriff and Frank Ludlow, usually illustrated with photographs or Margaret Stones illustrations
• small box of 12 glass lantern transparencies, mostly plant portraits - tape around slides very brittle; annotations in danger of being lost, so handle with extreme care
• cine film x 3 - converted to dvd
• 'misc' folder; contains LSH seed lists 1949 documents and key to the cine film
• newspaper cuttings - mostly relating to Bhutan
• 'misc' publications - mostly relating to Bhutan, some by Frank Ludlow

• Draft copy of an article titled ‘The New Plant Houses at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh’ (stored in the ‘R’ box)
• History and development of the garden
• Accounts, 1764-1876 (incomplete)
• Staff Records (incomplete)
• Probationer Gardener records (1889-1935)
• Records relating to education at RBGE
• Photographs
• Maps
• Papers relating to regional gardens – Dawyck, Benmore and Logan
• Plant flowering records (phenology registers)
• Plant records, including inventories, and registers of plants entering and leaving the garden

Items that accompanied a donation to the RBGE Herbarium (01700); includes Ogilvie's passport, 1968-1978; 2 copies of Diseases of Vegetables, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Bulletin No. 123 - one of which (2nd ed. 1944) is annotated and to be housed in the Archives, the second (6th ed. 1969) is to go to the RBGE Library Periodicals section. The latter pamphlet contained a letter, John G.S. Marshall to L. Ogilvie, 31/12/1971 discussing the popularity of the Bulletin, plans for a Spanish version and a revision.
The accession also includes a print out of Ogilvie's wikipedia page, and a cover note from his son, W. Duncan Ogilvie, who donated the collection in April 2024.

The 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