Letter from J.D. Hooker [Joseph Dalton Hooker] to George Maw
Information
Title
Letter from J.D. Hooker [Joseph Dalton Hooker] to George Maw
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
MAW/1/175
Date
19 Sep 1878
Scope & content
Written from Royal Gardens, Kew. Manuscript
The Great Lakes affair is a problem; [geological] sections will help Maw’s views to be understood; they will be at home in a fortnight; they go to Paris [France] for ten days on 18 Oct; he can get Gay’s [Claude Gay, botanist] croci drawn cheaply for Maw by his second cousin, a young lady who he hopes to instruct in drawing flowers from life; she is a niece of Lady Eastlake; he cannot afford to both teach and pay her, and she cannot travel to Kew from Norwood without the promise of regular employment; he asks how much Maw would pay for the 90 croci drawings to be copied; Miss Smith [Matilda Smith, Hooker’s second cousin] copies very well, and he would keep an eye on her work; the copies could be on vellum if preferred, and she could also copy the references; she has learned to illuminate, has picked up some colouring, and is capable enough that he wants to train her to draw for the ‘Botanical Magazine’; together they have completed three illustrations for the upcoming issue; if he could afford it, he would employ her daily for three months, drawing from life and copying when there are no plants to draw, and eventually train her in lithography; he cannot afford it on his salary, but if Maw makes an offer for the copying of the croci he may be able to manage it; he must decide by Monday, when she comes to visit; Maw may keep Gay’s drawings for as long as he likes if he does not want them copied; Sir J.D. Hay [John Drummond Hay, later envoy extraordinary to Morocco] and his wife and daughter spent yesterday at Kew and loved the gardens; the employment of British officers by the Sultan [Hassan I] should improve relations with the country [Morocco]