Letter 2694

Uvedale apologizes for not managing to see Sloane when he was in London. He claims he was too hurried to do so. He laments not being able to settle a debt for some books. Uvedale reminds Sloane that the last time they met, Sloane had some thoughts of sending for a collection of plant seeds from the King’s Gardens to send to Tournefort. He writes that Sloane must act quickly as the ‘season is coming on apace!’ Uvedale hopes Sloane sends some seeds for him, having been disappointed that a package sent by Mr Sherrard got no further than Lyons, where Dr Carr was to bring them along with other samples from Carolina. Unfortunately, Carr lost them on a ship sailing from the Isle of Wight. Robert Uvedale (1642-1722) was a botanist and schoolteacher. Though he was involved in the Royal Society he never became a member. Uvedale collected specimens for his personal herbarium, which was eventually acquired by Sir Hans Sloane (G. S. Boulger, Uvedale, Robert (16421722), rev. Anita McConnell, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28042, accessed 9 June 2011]).