Collection SYK - W. R. Sykes Nepal Plant Collection

Identity area

Reference code

GB 235 SYK

Title

W. R. Sykes Nepal Plant Collection

Date(s)

  • 1947 - 2018 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

10 boxes

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Archival history

The bulk of the collection was donated to RBGE in 2016, with 1954 diary and a set of slides donated by Bill's family in 2018.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The collection comprises diaries, notebooks, correspondence, photographs, slides, negatives, and articles relating to Sykes’ 1952 and 1954 expeditions to Nepal, organised by the British Museum and the Royal Horticultural Society. Also includes slides, correspondence, articles, maps, and other material from the 1980s to 2018.

Note on slides and photographs: slides are labelled on the mount (except for metal mounts) with details of date, locale, a descriptive caption, and, sometimes, elevation. Sykes’s handwritten notes (in pocket preceding each group of slides) supply more details. Photographs are labelled on the verso with details of date, locale, a descriptive caption, and, sometimes, elevation.

Aside from the expected botanical images and mountain views and scenery, the subjects of Sykes’s slides and photographs are wide-ranging, including villages and villagers, village houses, street scenes, bazaars, markets, festivals, porters, camp sites, camp activities, nomadic people, Hindu and Buddhist temples, shrines, monks, nuns, and monasteries, Buddhist statues, plant processing, seed drying, animals, cultivation and crops, activities such as wool processing, making ropes and mats, spinning and weaving, and brick making.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Some files may be subject to GDPR restrictions.

Conditions governing reproduction

Permission required from RBGE. Copyright restrictions may apply.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Physical characteristics and technical requirements

    Finding aids

    Allied materials area

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Related descriptions

    Notes area

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Access points

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Genre access points

    Description control area

    Description identifier

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Status

    Level of detail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Accession area