[Aimé BONPLAND]. Alire RAFFENEAU-DELILE (1778-1850), botanis - Lot 17

Lot n° 17
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[Aimé BONPLAND]. Alire RAFFENEAU-DELILE (1778-1850), botanis - Lot 17
[Aimé BONPLAND]. Alire RAFFENEAU-DELILE (1778-1850), botanist. Autograph letter (unsigned draft) to "dear sir" [Scottish botanist and explorer Robert Brown (1773-1858)], 3 pp. in-4. Paris, January 19, 1817. In English. Full transcript enclosed. "I am very happy that I was so friendly acquainted with you, during your stay in Paris. I am very happy likewise that I can give you by a letter a proof of my recollection. I have often examined the plants that you was kind enough to enrich with me. I was just in search of Mr Bonpland at the time when you left us in October last, I missed him one day of an hour's time at his house, precisely as he was going off. I had heard from him in November last when he wrote to me from Havre de Grâce. He recommended me to take care of the plants that you have given me for him, and charged me to express his feelings to you; I have those plants by me, and send a list of them to you as well as a list of those that you have given to me. I am very desirous to know whether my Cervinina campanutoides which is a true campanopsis should be also the hedijotis maritima Linn. You will oblige me much by answering that question". He then describes the progress of his work on the Description de l'Egypte, the engraving of the plates, etc. "The description and views of the pyramids will come forth in that section which included the middle part of Egypt. The work will be then nearly completed, for, there will be wanting a few parts only of descriptions of lower Egypt and of natural history". He then returns to Bonpland. "My friend Bonpland is gone with the most sanguiro expectations to heap up a treasure of plants ; he entrusted ma with the care of getting the last sheets of his work of Navarre & Malmaison entirely printed ; that work on a large folio size, the fist quires of which you have, I suppose, in your possession, is completed in eleven quires, ten of which included six plates each, and the last four plates only. It makes an elegant volume of sixty-four beautiful plates and 157 pages of print. Its natural place in a library is along with Ventenat's Jardin de Malmaison [...]. You would oblige me much by sending to me by some friend coming over to France, Pursh's flora americana [...]".
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