Thomas Nuttall
Nuttall sends a package to his fellow botanist John Torrey, making observations upon different species and telling Torrey he returns his manuscript as well, instructing him next time to send only one species of each American flower as Nuttall’s herbarium is extensive enough to provide the flowers at hand for ready reference. Nuttall asks after “friend Gray” and discusses other mutual acquaintances. Asa Gray was a botanist who collaborated with Torrey on A Flora of North America (1838-1843) while Torrey served as State Botanist of New York. Like Gray and Torrey, Nuttall was a naturalist who specialized in North American plants. An Englishman who relocated to America, Nuttall lived in Philadelphia for a time, taught at Harvard, and accompanied an expedition to the Columbia River in Hawaii to collect plants.
This letter is available on the digital library project I Remain.