[259]

                                 Messrs
Copy of a letter from ^Mr Leei & Kennedyii
                                   
D[ear]r. Sir, 
       Our busy Season is come upon us and we are not able to accomplish the list you desire of what we have introduced into this Country, such as have been 
published in the Magazines we incloseiii.
And have marked it No.1.
List of Erica's not in your     No2.               The other two lists are
list or Hort. Kew                                         y[ou]r. own returned
List of Protea's not in           No3                with what remarks we
Hort. Kew ~                                                can make ~
List of Various begun          No4                 


We have new Diosma Xeranthe[mu]m aspalathi Lobelia Selago Polygala  [3 words illeg]iv   but as we are informed you do not mean to publish new specific characters but only such as are in Willdenowv we have leftvi inserting them ~ Mesembryanthe[mu]ms we have nearly given up, they do not pay a nursery man and
we have too many Irons in the fire to indulge a fancy that can be better employed in things that repay us. ~
We have been very desireousevii of Obligeingviii you with these lists, but time and our over=whelming Business frustrates our intentions. ~ We beg you to be assured of our good intentions to oblige you on all Occasions. And we are D[ea]r. Sir
                            with unfeigned regards
                            Y[ou]r. much obliged & Humble  Ser[van]ts
                                   Lee & Kennedy  [signature]
Hammersmith
24 Oct[obe]r. 1808.

If a list of Roses is of any use we are about publishing a new one, but the names we give them are so unbotanical that it can be but of little use, however we will send one

                                 (turn over)


i Lee, James [see also below] 1715-1795-07-25 born Selkirk: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ID [7009526]. James Lee compiled an introduction to the Linnaean system, 'An Introduction to Botany' published in 1760.
ii Kennedy, Lewis, 1721-1782 born Muthill: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ID [1050944]
Kennedy and Lee were Scottish nurserymen who founded and ran a nursery called 'The Vineyard' in Hammersmith, London, UK: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ID [1004602])
iii enclose
iv The illegible text has been included by a different hand using a different ink
v Willdenow, Carl Ludwig, 1765-08-22-1812-07-10 born Berlin.  German botanist, pharmacist and plant taxonomist.  Author of a number of botanical publications including Florae Berolinensis Prodromus published 1787. Director of the Botanical Garden of Berlin: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names ID [7003712]
from 1801 until his death. Considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants
vi Inserted by a different hand using a different ink
vii desirous
viii Obliging