Letter from M. Foster [Michael Foster] to George Maw

Information

Scope & content: Written from Shelford, Cambridgeshire. Manuscript

He thanks Maw for his letter and enclosures, and his offer of distribution; his negotiations were with Mr Walter Besant, secretary to the Palestine Exploration Fund, who thinks the society would be pleased to work with a clergyman and suggested Harpur-Crewe [Henry Harpur Crewe, rector of Drayton Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire] should be the medium; parcels could easily be sent to Maw if Harpur-Crewe puts this in motion, and he is writing to him about it now; he will make additions to Maw’s circular and draw it up as general directions, though will let Maw review the proof before copies are made; he thanks Maw for the little iris, which is not Iris pumila, but in foliage and habit seems like Iris melitta [Iris suaveolens], found in Roumelia [Eastern Rumelia, Ottoman Empire, later in Bulgaria] by Janka [Viktor Janka], of which he has an unflowered plant; this would mark the extreme western limit of a group of dwarf irises which stretch into Central Asia; Maw might correspond directly with Captain Conder [Claude Reignier Conder] once the Palestinians are in ‘working order’; he would love to see Maw’s treasures at Benthall [Shropshire] but is busy until mid June