JOHN LINDLEY. 1 



John Lindley, one of the most renowned botanists of the 

 age, died at his residence near London, on the 1st of Novem- 

 ber last, at the age of sixty-six years. He was born at Catton, 

 near Norwich, where his father was a nurseryman, on Feb- 

 ruary 5, 1799 ; and was educated at the Norwich Grammar 

 School, as was his friend and earliest scientific acquaintance, 

 Sir William Hooker. It was at the house of the latter, soon 

 after his removal to Halesworth, that young Lindley began 

 his career of authorship by translating Richard's " Analyse 

 du Fruit," which was published in 1819. He appears already 

 to have devoted himself to botanical and horticultural pur- 

 suits, and, it is said, had arranged to visit Sumatra and the 

 Malayan Islands ; but for some reason, perhaps connected 

 with his father's reverses in business, the project was aban- 

 doned. At this juncture he was introduced by his friend 

 Hooker to Sir Joseph Banks, who employed him as his assist- 

 ant librarian. Sir Joseph recommended him to Mr. Cattley, 

 for whom he edited the folio " Collectanea Botanica," illus- 

 trating some of the new and curious plants cultivated \n Mr. 

 Cattley's collection. He had already published his " Mono- 

 graph of Roses " (1820) and his " Monograph of Digitalis " 

 (1821), the latter illustrated by plates from Ferdinand 

 Bauer's drawings. The next year (1822) began his connec- 

 tion with the Horticultural Society, as garden assistant sec- 

 retary, when he took charge of the laying out of the garden 

 at Chiswick. In 1826 he became sole assistant secretary, 

 Mr. Sabine being honorary secretary until 1830, and then 

 Mr. Bentham until 1841 ; nearly the whole active charge of 

 the establishment falling upon Dr. Lindley. Then, as vice- 

 secretary he conducted the operations of this great and pros- 

 1 American Journal of Science and Arts, 2 ser., xli. 265. (1866.) 



