Asa Gray and John Torrey correspondence, 1831-1871

Related Titles

Related/Analytical: New York Botanical Garden Archives

Series: John Torrey papers, series 1, correspondence

By

Gray, Asa, 1810-1888

Britton, Elizabeth G. (Elizabeth Gertrude), 1858-1934
Gray, Jane Loring, 1821-1909

Type

Collection

Material

Archival material

Publication info

Notes

Correspondence from Asa Gray to John Torrey, dated 1831-1874. Gray's early letters establish the pattern of his correspondence to Torrey: notice of books and specimens sent and received; news of friends and colleagues; updates, discussion, and questions regarding their numerous joint projects; accounts paid and received; a smattering of personal news; and affectionate regards to Torrey and his family ("Tell dear Herbert ... that I look at his picture every day"). In the 1830s Gray casts about for steady employment, toys with the idea of moving south, or traveling to Mexico. (There are no letters from the period 1837-1840, when Gray traveled to Europe, or 1863-1868.) Once Gray settles in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his letters become more frequent; as years pass and Torrey and Gray take on the task of multiple botanical government reports in addition to their Flora, they mature into businesslike missives full of details of the commissioning and production of drawings and plates, and the distasteful task of navigating the political world. Gray's particular blend of personal circumspection ("Conclusions found in hurly-burly are good for nothing") and professional combativeness is much in evidence, as is his protectiveness toward his friend, and those who cause Torrey grief, like Charles Wilkes ("a very dirty fellow") and President James Buchanan ("a gross outrage"), are soundly dismissed. Obsolete and unresolved plant and animal names mentioned include Aplopappus, Arum quinatum, Azalea, Barrattia, Calypso borealis, Camassia fraseri, Carex flexilis, Chaetospora, Chenopodium virginicum, Chiogenes, Cnicus benedictus, Coniferae, Decachaena, Dentaria diphylla, Erythraea, Fremontia, Gautiera procumbens, Geranium fremontii, Gerardia, Gnaphilium germanicum, Helianthus dowellianus, Malachodendron pentagynum, Maruta, Oakesia conradii, Obeone, Onoclea obtusilobata, Phalangium croceum, Poa eragrostis, Poa obtusa, Poa quinquefida, Populus graeca, Quadriala, Ragiopteris obtusilobata,

In English.

Researchers' notes in folder 1: "There are nearly [sic] 300 letters in this collection. They were loaned to Mrs. Gray [i.e. Jane Loring Gray] when she was editing Dr. Gray's letters and since then they have been preserved in the order in which she placed them. The pencilled dates are in Mrs. Gray's writing." "Letters of Dr. Asa Gray to Dr. John Torrey. In the order in which they were arranged by Mrs. Asa Gray. The signed (J.L.G.) pencil notes are hers. The unsigned ones are those of Mrs. Britton [i.e. Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton]."

Subjects

Abbott, Gorham D., 1807-1874 , Abert, J. W. (James William), 1820-1897 , Abronia , Actaea , Agalinis , Agassiz, Louis, 1807-1873 , Aiton, William Townsend, 1766-1849 , Aldama , Alexander, Stephen, 1806-1883 , Amaranthus , American Association for the Advancement of Scienc , Andreaea rothii , Anthephora , Aquilegia , Arisaema quinatum , Aristolochia wrightii , Arnica , Asclepias , Asimina , Asplenium pinnatifidum , Aster , Astragalus , Bache, A. D. (Alexander Dallas), 1806-1867 , Bailey, Jacob Whitman, 1811-1857 , Baileya , Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823-1887 , Balfour, John Hutton, 1808-1884 , Barratt, Joseph, 1796-1882 , Bartonia , Basilosaurus , Batis , Beck, Lewis C. (Lewis Caleb), 1798-1853 , Beckwith, E. G. (Edward Griffin), 1818-1881 , Beiträge zur anatomie der Cacteen , Bentham, George, 1800-1884 , Berkeley, M. J. (Miles Joseph), 1803-1889 , Berlandier, Jean Louis, -1851 , Bigelow, Jacob, 1786-1879 , Blodgett, John Loomis, 1809-1853 , Blytt, Matthias Numsen, 1789-1862 , Boissier, Edmond, 1810-1885 , Bolander, Henry N. (Henry Nicholas), 1831-1897 , Boott, Francis, 1792-1863 , Boott, J. Wright (John Wright), 1792-1845 , Bory de Saint-Vincent (Jean Baptiste Geneviève Ma , Botanical specimens , Botanical text-book , Botany of the northern and middle states , Botrytis , Brace, John Pierce, 1793-1872 , Brackenridge, William D. (William Dunlop), 1810-18 , Bromfield, William Arnold, 1801-1851 , Brown, Robert, 1773-1858 , Brownlee, John, 1791-1871 , Buchanan, James, 1791-1868 , Buckley, S. B. (Samuel Botsford), 1809-1884 , Buckleya , Cactaceae , Calibrachoa parviflora , Calypso bulbosa , Camassia scilloides , Campanula , Candolle, Alphonse de, 1806-1893 , Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de, 1778-1841 , Cardamine diphylla , Carex , Carex castanea , Carey, John, 1797-1880 , Carey, Samuel Thomas, 1800-1857 , Carter, William, , Celtis , Centaurea benedicta , Centaurium , Ceratiola ericoides , Chapman, A. W. (Alvan Wentworth), 1809-1899 , Chemistry , Choate, Rufus, 1799-1859 , Choisy, Jacques Denys, 1799-1859 , Clark, Alonzo, 1807-1887 , Class-book of botany , Cleaveland, Parker, 1780-1858 , Clematis , Clematis ochroleuca , Cleomella , Clerodendrum , Clintonia , Cocculus carolinus , Cogswell, Joseph Green, 1786-1871 , Compositae , Convallaria , Corema conradii , Correspondence , Coulter, Thomas, 1793-1843 , Croom, Hardy Bryan, 1797-1837 , Croton ellipticus , Crypsis , Curtis, M. A. (Moses Ashley), 1808-1872 , Cyperaceae , Cyperus , Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun Ramsay, Marquis of, , Dana, James Dwight, 1813-1895 , Darlington, William, 1782-1863 , Darlingtonia , De Kay, James E. (James Ellsworth), 1792-1851 , Decaisne, Joseph, 1807-1882 , Delessert, Benjamin, baron, 1773-1847 , Dewey, Chester, 1784-1867 , Dod, Albert B. (Albert Baldwin), 1805-1845 , Dodecatheon dentatum , Douglass, David Bates, 1790-1849 , Downing, A. J. (Andrew Jackson), 1815-1852 , Draper, John William, 1811-1882 , Drayton, Joseph , Duby, J. É. (Jean Étienne), 1798-1885 , Dumas, J.-B. (Jean-Baptiste), 1800-1884 , Durand, Elias, 1794-1873 , Dysphania aristata , Eaton, Amos Beebe, 1806-1877 , Eaton, Amos, 1776-1842 , Eaton, Daniel Cady, 1834-1895 , Edwards, Lewis Allison, 1823-1877 , Ellet, William Henry, 1806-1859 , Emerson, George B. (George Barrell), 1797-1881 , Emory, William H. (William Hemsley), 1811-1887 , Endlicher, Stephan, 1804-1849 , Engelmann, George, 1809-1884 , Engelmannia , Eragrostis minor , Eriogonum , Euphorbia , Fendler, August, 1813-1883 , Fielding, H. B. (Henry Barron), 1805-1851 , Filago , Fischer, F. E. L. (Friedrich Ernst Ludwig), 1782-1 , Flora of North America , Flora of the state of New York , Folwell, Nathan W. (Nathan Wright), 1805-1879 , Frasera speciosa , Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890 , G. & W. Endicott (Firm) , Galphimia angustifolia , Gambel, William, 1823-1849 , Gardner, George, 1812-1849 , Gaultheria procumbens , Genera florae Americae Boreali-Orientalis illustra , Gentiana , Geraea , Geranium caespitosum , Gibbes, Lewis Reeves, 1810-1894 , Gliddon, George R. (George Robins), 1809-1857 , Glyceria obtusa , Gordonia , Gould, Augustus A. (Augustus Addison), 1805-1866 , Govenia , Graham, Robert, 1786-1845 , Gramineae , Gratiola , Gray, Asa, 1810-1888 , Gray, Jane Loring, 1821-1909 , Greene, B. D. (Benjamin Daniel), 1793-1862 , Gregg, Josiah, 1806-1850 , Griffith, R. Eglesfeld (Robert Eglesfeld), 1798-18 , Guyot, A. (Arnold), 1807-1884 , Gymnopteris , Hadley, James, 1785-1869 , Halenia , Halenius, Jonas Petri, 1727-1810 , Halsted, M. B. (Mina B.), -1860 , Harvard University , Harvey, William H. (William Henry), 1811-1866 , Hatch, Thomas P., active 1854 , Helianthus occidentalis , Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878 , Heuchera , Heyland, Jean Christophe, 1792-1866 , Hinds, Richard Brinsley, 1812-1847 , Hochstein, Anthony, 1828 or 1829-1911 , Hoffmannia , Holton, Isaac F. (Isaac Farwell) , Hooker, Joseph Dalton, 1817-1911 , Hooker, William Jackson, Sir, 1785-1865 , Hookeria lucens , Hope, Thomas Charles, 1766-1844 , Horsford, Eben Norton, 1818-1893 , Hudsonia montana , Hypnum , Illicium , Jamesia , Janusia californica , Jewett, Charles C. (Charles Coffin), 1816-1868 , Johnston, Jas. F. W. (James Finlay Weir), 1796-185 , Jussieu, Adrien de, 1797-1853 , Kallstroemia , Kellogg, A. (Albert), 1813-1887 , Ker, John Bellenden, 1765?-1842 , Klotzsch, Fr. (Friedrich), 1805-1860 , Knieskern, Peter D., 1798-1871 , Kunth, Karl Sigismund, 1788-1850 , Kunze, Gustav, 1793-1851 , Le Conte, John Eatton, 1784-1860 , Leavenworthia , Lehmann, Johann Georg Christian, 1792-1860 , Lesquereux, Leo, 1806-1889 , Lessingia , Lewisia , Liebig, Justus, Freiherr von, 1803-1873 , Lindheimer, Ferdinand, 1802-1879 , Lindley, John, 1799-1865 , Lobelia cardinalis , Locke, John, 1792-1856 , Loddiges, George, 1786-1846 , Loomis, Elias, 1811-1889 , Lowell, John Amory, 1798-1881 , Lyceum of Natural History (New York, N.Y.) , Lyell, Charles, Sir, 1797-1875 , Macrae, W. F. (William Frederick) , Malva , Manual of botany, for North America , Marcy, Randolph B. (Randolph Barnes), 1812-1887 , Martius, Karl Friedrich Philipp von, 1794-1868 , Meehan, Thomas, 1826-1901 , Meissner, C. F. (Carl Friedrich), 1800-1874 , Menzies, Archibald, 1754-1842 , Mertensia , Miers, John, 1789-1879 , Mimulus , Mohavea , Monographie des Malpighiacées , Morrow, James, 1820-1865 , Mulder, Claas, 1796-1867 , Munro, William, Lieutenant-Colonel , Musci , Nasturtium , Nees von Esenbeck, C. G. (Christian Gottfried), 17 , Newberry, J. S. (John Strong), 1822-1892 , Nicollet, J. N. (Joseph Nicolas), 1786-1843 , North American Gramineae and Cyperaceae , Nuttall, Thomas, 1786-1859 , Oakes, William, 1799-1848 , Obolaria , Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822-1903 , Olney, Stephen T. (Stephen Thayer), 1812-1878 , Onoclea sensibilis , Pamplin, William, 1806-1899 , Panicum agrostoides , Papaver , Parnassia asarifolia , Parry, C. C. (Charles Christopher), 1823-1890 , Patterson, Robert M. (Robert Maskell), 1787-1854 , Peirce, Benjamin, 1809-1880 , Penstemon , Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794-1858 , Phyllodoce empetriformis , Physalis , Pickering, Charles, 1805-1878 , Pinopsida , Pinus , Plantae Fendlerianae Novi-Mexicanae , Plantæ frémontianæ , Plantae Lindheimerianae , Plantago , Platanus , Pluchea , Polemonium reptans , Polygala paucifolia , Pope, John, 1822-1892 , Potentilla gracilis , Pouzolzia , Presl, K. B. (Karel Bořiwoj), 1794-1852 , Prestele, Joseph, 1796-1867 , Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis , Pursh, Frederick, 1774-1820 , Pyrola , Pyrrocoma , Quincy, Josiah, 1772-1864 , Rafinesque, C. S. (constantine Samuel), 1783-1840 , Ranunculus , Reliquiae Baldwinianae , Reynolds, J. N. (Jeremiah N.), 1799-1858 , Rhododendron , Rhus , Rhus succedanea , Rich, William, 1800-1864 , Richardson, John, Sir, 1787-1865 , Riocreux, Alfred, 1820-1912 , Rogers, Henry D. (Henry Darwin), 1808-1866 , Romneya , Ross, James Clark, Sir, 1800-1862 , Ruellia , Rugel, Ferdinand, 1806-1879 , Rumex , Ruprecht, F. (Franz) , Sartwell, H. P. (Henry Parker), 1792-1867 , Saxifraga , Scheele, Georg Heinrich Adolf, 1808-1864 , Schleiden, M. J. (Matthias Jacob), 1804-1881 , Schoenolirion croceum , Scirpus , Scleria , Scrophularia , Seemann, Berthold, 1825-1871 , Selenia , Sequoia sempervirens , Sewell, Thomas, 1786-1845 , Shepard, Charles Upham, 1804-1886 , Short, Charles Wilkins, 1794-1863 , Shuttleworth, R. J. (Robert James), 1810-1874 , Sida , Silene drummondii , Silliman, Benjamin, 1779-1864 , Silliman, Benjamin, 1816-1885 , Smilax rotundifolia , Smith, John Augustine, 1782-1865 , Solanum , Solidago , Solidago ohioensis , Spach, Édouard, 1801-1879 , Sphaeralcea , Sprague, Isaac, 1811-1895 , Stewartia ovata , Story, Joseph, 1779-1845 , Streptanthus maculatus , Styrax , Sullivant, William Starling, 1803-1873 , Symplocarpus , Taylor, Thomas, 1775-1848 , Tessaria , Thalia , Thermopsis fraxinifolia , Thurber, George, 1821-1890 , Tommasini, Muzio Giuseppe Spirito de, 1794-1879 , Torrey, John, 1796-1873 , Torreya , Treatise on the forces which produce the organizat , Tridens flavus , Trilobites , Trowbridge, John Foote, 1791-1872 , Tuckerman, Edward, 1817-1886 , United States and Mexican Boundary Survey , United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) , United States Pacific Railroad Expeditions and Sur , Urtica , Vaccinium , Vauquelinia , Webster, John White, 1793-1850 , Wendell, Cornelius, 1813-1870 , Whipple, Amiel Weeks, 1817?-1863 , Wiley & Putnam , Wilkes, Charles, 1798-1877 , Wolfiporia extensa , Wood, Alphonso, 1810-1881 , Woolsey, Theodore Dwight, 1801-1889 , Wright, Charles, 1811-1885 , Wyman, Jeffries, 1814-1874 , Xántus, János, 1825-1894 , Zuccarini, J. G. (Joseph Gerhard), 1797-1848

BHL Collections

John Torrey Papers

Language

English

Identifiers

OCLC: 1009081740