Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 30/12/1905 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 letter, 2 sheets, 7 pages
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in Falkirk in 1873, George Forrest became one of Scotland's most prolific plant collectors, conducting seven expeditions in Yunnan province, S.W. China between 1904 and his death there in 1932.
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Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letter from George Forrest, The Consulate, Tengyueh, Yunnan, S.W. China to Isaac Bayley Balfour, 'Regius Keeper', Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, dated 30 December 1905.
In the absence of Mr Litton on business connected with the proposed railway extension from Bhamo to Teng Yueh [Tengchong], Forrest has been left to entertain any passing travellers. These include Mr [Aleister] Crowley of the Alpine Club, his wife and child, and a Frenchman on his way north to buy musk and furs for a Paris firm. Forrest reports that he and Litton had reached latitude 27’ 15” and a quarter degrees covering new ground on their recent trip north along the Salween valley. Forrest has collected about 300 specimens, some of them new species. Of seeds he has only about 100 species and not those he wished most to secure meaning he thinks he will have to return to Tsekou [Cigu] next season ‘as I cannot bear the thought of anyone else, especially a Frenchman securing specimens and seeds of the plants I saw.’ He thanks Balfour for Hooker’s Flora and for numbers of the Linnaean Journal and for all his kindness. Forrest asks again for advice on drying and packing orchids as he now has a large number of pseudo bulbs of what he takes to be a new species and does not know how to deal with them.
Plant referenced: Orchid
Letter is very slightly charred.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission required from RBGE.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Letter is very slightly charred; handle with care.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
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Notes area
Note
It should be noted that the catalogue descriptions, summaries and letters may contain sensitive subjects and Forrest’s language, spellings and attitudes which may be deemed offensive now.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Crowley, Aleister (Subject)
- Litton, George (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
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Dates of creation revision deletion
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Archivist's note
This Forrest correspondence collection summary has been provided by library volunteer Pauline Maclean.