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A.W. Chapman and John Torrey correspondence, 1835-1851

by: Chapman, A. W.(Alvan Wentworth),1809-1899

Publication date: 1835

Collection: nybgtorrey; biodiversity; NY_Botanical_Garden

Contributor: New York Botanical Garden, LuEsther T. Mertz Library

Language: English

John Torrey Papers (PP), Archives, The New York Botanical Garden

Correspondence from A. W. Chapman to John Torrey, dated 1835-1851. From several locations in northwestern Florida Chapman gives regular notice of his plant shipments, very happy that in Torrey and Gray he has found "an outlet to my collections." He also offers to send insects, reptiles, and butterflies. Like other botanists working in remote locations, he periodically asks Torrey for copies of the latest scientific literature: "You need not be told that I am living in one of the 'ends' of the world, where few books grow." He gives his detailed impressions of each volume of Torrey and Gray's Flora of North America as it arrives. His letters often includes lists of plants, and several documents in the collection are purely lists of plants sent by Chapman, possibly in Torrey's hand. Chapman sends his congratulations to Gray for his appointment to the United States Exploring Expedition, but also admonishes, "If he is really anxious to make discoveries, let him buckle on his knapsack & make the tour of Florida." Chapman's enthusiasm for the Florida flora never wanes, despite the difficulties of life and work there; in 1841 he tells Torrey, "I have lived in this Florida nearly six years & I have not begun to find her out yet." Obsolete and unresolved plant names mentioned include Apteria setacea, Bletia verecunda, Chrysostemma tripteris, Habernaria herbiola, Hypoporum baldwinii, Orchis bidentata, Pitcheria, Rudbeckia atrorubens, Rhynchospora grayana, Scrofularia, Tephrosia flexuosa, Tripsacum cylindricum, and Tripterella. Some letters incorporate small botanical drawings

Digitized under grant #PW-234827-16 from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

Finding aid for the John Torrey papers available from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden and online

Abstract: Correspondence from A. W. Chapman to John Torrey, dated 1835-1851. From several locations in northwestern Florida Chapman gives regular notice of his plant shipments, very happy that in Torrey and Gray he has found "an outlet to my collections." He also offers to send insects, reptiles, and butterflies. Like other botanists working in remote locations, he periodically asks Torrey for copies of the latest scientific literature: "You need not be told that I am living in one of the 'ends' of the world, where few books grow." He gives his detailed impressions of each volume of Torrey and Gray's Flora of North America as it arrives. His letters often includes lists of plants, and several documents in the collection are purely lists of plants sent by Chapman, possibly in Torrey's hand. Chapman sends his congratulations to Gray for his appointment to the United States Exploring Expedition, but also admonishes, "If he is really anxious to make discoveries, let him buckle on his knapsack & make the tour of Florida." Chapman's enthusiasm for the Florida flora never wanes, despite the difficulties of life and work there; in 1841 he tells Torrey, "I have lived in this Florida nearly six years & I have not begun to find her out yet." Obsolete and unresolved plant names mentioned include Apteria setacea, Bletia verecunda, Chrysostemma tripteris, Habernaria herbiola, Hypoporum baldwinii, Orchis bidentata, Pitcheria, Rudbeckia atrorubens, Rhynchospora grayana, Scrofularia, Tephrosia flexuosa, Tripsacum cylindricum, and Tripterella. Some letters incorporate small botanical drawings.