Category: Library and ArchivesPage 2 of 5

Information about the collections held in the RBGE Library and Archives

The David Douglas Telescope – what can one object tell us?

The RBGE Archives do not just hold papers – correspondence, administration and photographs – we also have a number of objects; plant models, gardening tools and camera equipment…

Naming of Primula species from the 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition to Mount Everest

In Wade Davis’ account of the ‘Mallory’ expeditions to Mount Everest1, there is a brief but intriguing reference to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. In a section describing…

Ross Eudall (1924-2021)

Ross Eudall was born in London on the 29th December 1924, an only child. Ross’s father was a butler, which led to Ross spending time in Kilmarnock, Inverness…

RBGE World War Two Service Roll

1939-1945 The Service Roll is different from the Roll of Honour in that it shows the names & a short statement of service of all members of staff of the…

Early botanising in Upper Teesdale

by Frank Horsman A number of botanists have been overlooked in the botanical recognition of Upper Teesdale. My aim is to put this right. The unrecognised botanical pioneer…

Hidden Histories: Stories found in the George Forrest archive – The Temple of the Goddess of Mercy

I am fortunate to be able to work with archive material produced by people like plant collector George Forrest (1873-1932), who travelled extensively in Yunnan province, southwest China…

A garden visitor and his ‘stolen’ book – 2

In the first of these Botanics Stories we introduced the weaver botanist John Duncan and his friend Charles Black. In this blogpost we give some details about John’s…

A garden visitor and his ‘stolen’ book – 1

The visitor On the 17th of November 1874 an elderly working weaver – ‘compelled in his destitution’ – applied for poor relief in the Aberdeenshire parish of Alford….

Uses for a ‘common’ flower

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara L.) is found throughout Scotland. It is among the early spring flowers. Over the years people have used this ‘common’ plant in a number of ways.

The giant butterbur, Petasites japonicus

By Henry Noltie Rituals to mark the unrolling of the seasons have always seemed important, but never more so than as reference points by which to punctuate the…

Erophila verna on a black ground: a miniature painting in the Lightfoot Herbarium at Kew

By Henry Noltie In April 2017 I visited a memorable exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art at New Haven, CT. It was  entitled ‘Enlightened Princesses’ and…

The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium. Part IV

By Henry Noltie & Mark Watson (continued from Part III) Military Men, Society Ladies and the French The Army Officers The violence inflicted upon India by the EIC…

The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium. Part III

By Henry Noltie & Mark Watson (continued from Part II) Horticulturists and Civil Servants The designation ‘professional’, which, during the twentieth century, increasingly came to be used in…

The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium. Part II

By Henry Noltie & Mark Watson (continued from Part I) The Surgeons (and a Vet) Perhaps unsurprisingly the second largest number of specimens in the Herbarium came from…

The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium

By Henry Noltie & Mark Watson Nathaniel Wallich was one of the most significant superintendents of the Calcutta Botanic Garden (now the AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah),…

Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour (1853-1922) – an appreciation

This is an extended version of the talk I gave at the ‘Trailblazers’ online event to mark RBGE’s 350th anniversary on the 15th October 2020. I work in…

Neera Joshi Pradhan

Born in 1967, the daughter of R.N. Joshi (1938-1988), painter and doyen of Nepali art Personal Statement I am an independent self–employed artist and botanical illustrator in Nepal….

Jane Webb Loudon (1807-1858)

Karissa Adams, a volunteer with the Library and Archives, writes: Jane Webb Loudon was born in 1807 in Birmingham. In 1819, her mother died, prompting her bereft father…

The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team

A series of posts from our volunteers … Karissa Adams My time as a volunteer with RBGE began in January 2019, when I was studying Book History and…

The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team

A series of posts from our volunteers … Maggie Stevenson I am Maggie, formerly an occupational therapist. Always a keen gardener, I completed the RHS (Level 2) Principles…