Letter from J.D. Hooker [Joseph Dalton Hooker] to George Maw

Information

Scope & content: Written from Royal Gardens, Kew. Manuscript

They returned two nights ago from their trip; he details their route around France, Italy and Switzerland; he did very little botany as the spring was too backward for much; at Florence [Italy] he did what he could to stop the removal of the herbarium and garden from their current unique position to the horrible stables on the other side of town; Caruel [Teodoro Caruel, botanist] is the only advocate of the scheme amongst the botanists, and it is hard to find his reasons; he has a lot of work on hand, and Smith [John Smith, curator at Kew] is asking for the tickets, as they had stopped writing them for a few months in hope of a mount; they are all well and Lady Hooker is better for the sun; he asks Maw how the Crocus book goes, as Florence is eager for it

Credit Line: Courtesy of David Symonds Hooker / The Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker / RHS Lindley Collections