PREFACE V 



t)f this <( Botaniste de Pensilvanie," it was happily suggested to my 

 memory that I had read, some years ago, two volumes of the Corre- 

 spondence between Linnaeus, John Ellis, William Collinson, Dr. 

 Fothergill and others. As William Young's Catalogue contained 

 references to his dealings with these men, I again carefully searched 

 through this fascinating collection of botanical letters and was re- 

 warded by finding there four references to Young, all of the greatest 

 importance in identifying him and his botanical career. The title 

 of this work has already been referred to and given in a footnote 

 on a previous page of this Preface. 



The first of these references is in Vol. I, page 512, in a letter of 

 Dr. Alexander Garden, of Charleston, South Carolina, to John Ellis, 

 of London, dated July 25, 1761, where he says : "I have at last met 

 with a man who is to commence nurseryman and gardener, and to 

 collect seeds, plants, &c., for the London market. He is a sensible, 

 careful man, and has a turn for that business. He shall receive all 

 the advice and assistance that I can give him. I must beg your 

 interest in his favour; that you would bespeak what custom and 

 commissions you can procure for him from your gardeners or nursery- 

 men or from any gentleman who may want what our province af- 

 fords. He wants much to be acquainted with Mr. Gray and Mr. 

 Gordon, at Mile-End ; and I must beg that you would procure some 

 commission from them to him. He is to employ his whole tune in 

 procuring whatever may be ordered. 



"His name is Young, and any letters for him inclosed to me will 

 be taken care of. I must beg that you would endeavour to inform 

 me, on his account, what the prices of our several seeds are, or the 

 value of young plants of Loblolly Bay, Azalea, Umbrella Magnolia, 

 Beureria, Magnolia palusti-is, Hale^ia, Stuartia^ and such like." 



In a letter, dated March 21, 1760, Dr. Garden wrote Ellis that 

 John Bartram was staying with him for a few days. There is little 

 doubt that Bartram was later responsible for the introduction of 

 William Young to Dr. Garden, Young being a near neighbor of 

 Bartram, as the sequel will show. 



The next reference to Young is on page 522 of the same volume, 

 in another letter from Dr. Garden to John Ellis, dated November 

 19, 1764, as follows : "Agreeably to your desire, I have spoken to 

 Mr. Young, and given him your directions and my best advice so 

 that I doubt not but his seeds and young plants will be good and his 

 prices much lower." 



The letter from Ellis to Garden, here referred to, is not published 

 in this work, nor elsewhere, that I can find. 



