Draft 'Some Account of the American Oaks' by David Douglas
Information
Title - Draft 'Some Account of the American Oaks' by David Douglas
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/5/1/3/1
Date - c.1823-1824
Scope & content - Draft manuscript descriptions of the genus Quercus, entitled 'Account of American oaks'
Overview of contents:
Folios 1-2: Copy of a letter to Joseph Sabine
Folios 2-26: 'Some Account of the American oaks'
Folio 27: 'Extract of a letter from Mr Floy'
Folios 28-33: Descriptions of the genus Quercus
Folios 34-40: Descriptions of the genus Quercus
Physical description: Unbound manuscript enclosed in a soft paper wrapper with torn edges, labelled 'Account of American Oaks'. The manuscript comprises loose leaves of various sizes. There are holes in the upper left-hand corners from previous fastening. The edges of some of the pages are torn and some are foxed and dirty. Fragile. Handle with care
The manuscript contains original foliation in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos. The added loose leaves of varying sizes and notes in Douglas's hand are inserted between the leaves and numbered 2a, 2b etc in pencil. The original foliation (1-26) is followed by additional material with two sets of foliation (original foliation 1-6 and pencil foliation 27 and 28-40). The foliation in the description follows the original foliation and the added set of pencil foliation (folios 1-40)
Original foliation: 1, 2, 2a-b, 3, 4, 5, 5a, 6, 6a, 7, 7a-b, 8, 8a, 9, 9a, 10, 10a-b, 11, 11a, 12, 12a, 13, 13a-c, 14, 14a, 15, 15a-b, 16, 16a, 17, 17a-d, 18, 18a-b, 19, 19a-b, 20, 20a, 21, 21a-b, 22, 22a, 23, 24, 24a-b, 25, 25a-c, 26, 26a, 27, 28-33 (1-6)
Folios 34-40 were removed from RHS/Col/5/2/3/1 during cataloguing and transferred to the present folder. They comprise folded pages attached with string, foliated in pencil 34-40, with further descriptions of the genus Quercus
The pages are mostly written on rectos only, in David Douglas's hand and annotated in various hands in pencil and in different inks on the blank verso pages and in the margins. Some of the annotations are by Douglas himself, others in later hands
For another version of this manuscript, c.1823-1824, see RHS/Col/5/1/3/2
Summary of contents:
Folios 1-2: Copy of letter from David Douglas to Joseph Sabine [secretary of the Horticultural Society of London], with the title of the work 'Some Account of the American Oaks, particularly of such species as were met with during a journey from [blank] to [blank], in the year 1823 by D. Douglas [David Douglas]. In a letter to the secretary [Joseph Sabine]'
He received instructions from the Horticultural Society during his late mission to the state of New York [United States of America] to obtain specimens for the herbarium, when not employed collecting living plants for the garden; he had only one opportunity to do this, 'but the hasty manner in which I was obliged to travel, and the lateness of the season, prevented my forming an extensive hortus siccus'; the oaks in particular attracted his attention, 'from their number and beauty and the acknowledged utility of their wood'; he saw 19 species of the 34 enumerated by Pursh [Frederick Traugott Pursh, botanist] as being native to North America; he has written up an account of these, including their specific characteristics, such information as he was able to collect in the country, observations from 'the beautiful work of Michaux'; he has followed Michaux's divisions in his arrangement, by arranging the descriptions first according to the annual or biennial fructifications, as explained in 'The North American Sylva' [Francois Andre Michaux, 'The North American Sylva, or, a description of the forest trees of the United States, Canada and Nova Scotia', 1817], and secondly according to the modes of divisions of the leaves
Folios 2-26: 'Account of the American oaks'. The trees are numbered, with a description of the characteristics of each, divided into two categories according to their fructification, with additions on loose slips of papers inserted between the pages. Comprises
'A: Annual fructification' (numbers 1-10), including Quercus alba or white oak, Quercus olivaeformis or mossy-cup oak [Quercus macrocarpa], Quercus macrocarpa or over-cup white oak, Quercus obtusiloba or upland white oak or post oak [Quercus stellata] and Quercus lyrata or over-cup oak [here the list includes 5 more oaks]
'B: Fructification biennial' (numbers 11-32), including Quercus phellos or willow oak, Quercus maritima or marine oak [Quercus hemisphaerica], Quercus sericea or running oak [Quercus pumila], Quercus myrtifolia and Quercus virens or live oak [Quercus virginiana] [here the list includes 16 more oaks]
Folio 27: 'Extract of a letter from Mr Floy [Michael Floy, nurseryman in Manhattan, New York]', comprising notes on Quercus elongata [Quercus falcata], or Quercus olivaeformis [?Quercus macrocarpa] of Michaux the younger [Francois Andre Michaux, botanist, son of botanist Andre Michaux] [Annotated, possibly in the hand of William Jackson Hooker: 'I do not understand this note. Q. elongata [Quercus elongata] is the Quercus falcata of Michaux, not Q. olivaeformis [Quercus olivaeformis]. It had better perhaps be inserted in the form of a note to Q. olivaeformis (mossy-cup oak), & the name olivaeformis substituted for Q. elongata']
Folios 28-33 [original foliation 1-6]: Descriptions of the genus Quercus, including Quercus alba or white oak, Quercus olivaeformis or mossy-cup oak [Quercus macrocarpa], Quercus macrocarpa or over-cup white oak, Quercus lyrata and Quercus obtusiloba or Quercus stellata [Quercus stellata] [here the list includes 15 more oaks]
Folios 34-40: A bundle of papers attached with string. Description of Quercus garryana, ending with a note 'I have great pleasure in dedicating the species to N. Garry [Nicholas Garry], esq, deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, as a sincere, though simple token of regard'. Followed by three half-leaves with descriptions of Quercus alba, Quercus rubra and Quercus ambigua [?Quercus diversifolia]
Extent - 1 folder
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - Royal Horticultural Society
Credit Line - RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)