LIBRARY 
NEW YORK 
BOTANICAL 
GARDEN 
PREFACE. 
IN the following pages, which contain the 
principal events in the life of Sir James 
Edward Smith, the writer has been tempted 
to insert various domestic and familiar letters, 
even from an early period, as it appeared to 
her that they mark the progress of his cha- 
racter, his predilection for botanical science, 
and other facts, more faithfully than a nar- 
rative composed of different materials would 
be likely to do. 
From the vast accumulation of letters, 
preserved during a period of more than fifty 
years, the limits of this work would admit 
only of a selection; and many therefore are 
omitted, equally worthy of publication. 
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