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Document number: 2759
Date: 12 Nov 1833
Recipient: BERTOLONI Antoino
Author: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Collection: PRIVATE
Collection number: 301287.1
Last updated: 6th May 2013

à Nice le 12 Novembre 1833

Monsieur

J’ai vû avec beaucoup de plaisir que vous avez publié trois fascicules de votre Flora Italica. <1> Comme je possède beaucoup de plantes Italiennes, je pourrais avec plaisir vous en donner des exemplaires, si vous voulez m’indiquer les moyens de vous les faire parvenir à présent je ne tourne en Angleterre, et je pourrais vous envoyer ces plantes dans le mois de janvier. J’ai été une quinzaine de jours ici à Nice, et j’ai trouvé quelques plantes intéressantes malgré la saison déjà si avancée. Je pourrais vous envoyer des échantillons de celles-ci à présent, si vous le désirez. Vous n’avez qu’à m’écrire une lettre adressée à la poste restante à Paris. Mon adresse en Angleterre est Nº 31 Sackville Street à Londres-

Le Cneorum tricoccum que vous n’indiquez que dans l’ile de Monte Cristo croit ici à Nice très communement et aussi à Villafranca et à Mentone. Elle est en fleur actuellement.

Le Jasminum fruticans est très commun ici, elle diffère un peu de votre description, en ce qu’elle n’a pas la bacca didyma mais symplex. On la voit en fruit a present ses fruits sont très noirs, et remplis d’un succus atropurpureus. J’ai été à Nice, autrefois, dans la belle saison, et je l’ai trouvé très intéressant sous le rapport de la botanique. J’ai trouvé sur le Cole de Tende la Fritillaria lutea qui n’est pas indiqué dans les auteurs comme spontané en Europe. J’ai trouvé aussi sur une certaine montagne dont je ne connais pas le nom, mais c’est située à moitié chemin entre Tende et Nice une superbe espèce de Lilium à fleurs solitaires d’une vive couleur écarlate je crois que c’est le Lilium tenuifolium de Fischer. Je serais bien aise de recevoir de vos nouvelles, si vous voulez m’écrire à Paris, et je vous renouvelle, mon ami, l’expression de toute ma considération.

H. F. Talbot

[note added in Bertoloni’s hand:]
Nizza 12 Novembre 1833
Talbot. Sua raccolta di pianta di Nizza &c. che offre. Sua abitazione in Londra. Fritillaria lutea e Lilium angustifolium Fischer cui crede aver trovato al Colle di Tenda.

[address panel:]
à Monsieur
Monsieur le Professeur
Antonio Bertoloni
à Bologna
en Italie

Translation:

Nice, 12 November 1833

Sir

I was very pleased to see that three installments of your Flora Italica have been published. Since I have many examples of Italian plants, I’d be happy to give you some, if you let me know how I should get them to you. At present, I am not going back to England, and I could send these botanical samples in January. I have been here in Nice for fifteen days, and I have found some interesting plants, even in this late season. I could send you samples of these, if you wish. You would just need to write me back at poste restante in Paris. My address is Nº 31 Sackville Street, London.

The Cneorum tricoccum, which you mention as extant only on the island of Monte Cristo, is very common here in Nice, and in Villefranche and Mentone as well. It is blooming right now.

The Jasminum fruticans is very common here. It is a little different from your description, in that it does not have a 2-celled berry, but a simple berry. It is fruiting now, and its fruit is very dark and filled with a dark red juice. I had been to Nice other times, during the good season, and had found it very interesting from a botanical standpoint. I found the Fritillaria lutea at Col de Tende, although it had not been identified as a native plant of Europe. Somewhere in the mountain, at a place I do not know the name of, located halfway between Tende and Nice, I found a superb specimen of a single lily flower, of a bright scarlet colour, which I believe is the Lilium tenuifolium Fischer. I look forward to hearing from you, if you wish to write to me in Paris, and I renew the expression of my respect.

H. F. Talbot

[note added in Bertoloni’s hand:]
Nice 12 November 1833
Talbot. Took a cutting of a plant in Nice, etc., which he offers. His address in London. Fritillaria lutea and Lilium angustifolium Fischer that he believes he has found at Col de Tende.

[address panel:]
to Sir
Professor Antonio Bertoloni
at Bologna
in Italy

Editorial note:

[The original letter surfaced very recently after a gap of more than six decades. It was described in E.P. Goldschmidt's Catalogue 52. Old Books. A Collection of Early Photographs and Books Commemorating the Centenary of Fox Talbot and Daguerre, 1839-1939, item 135. The same description appeared in Goldschmidt's Catalogue 60, item 253. It was subsequently offered, with an identical description, in E. Weil's Catalogue 4 (ca. 1943–1944), item 260. “Talbot, Henry Fox. Autograph letter (2 pp.) written at Nice, 12th November 1833, to Professor A. Bertoloni, Bologna. 4to. Talbot’s interest in Botany was the basis of his long friendship with Antonio Bertoloni, the famous Italian botanist (1775-1869) and editor of the “Flora Italica” (1833-54). The first three parts of the Flora had just been issued, and in this letter Talbot congratulates Bertoloni on his work and offers to send him from London some plants which he had collected in Italy. Later on Talbot realised the great value of his new photographic process for the study of Botany, and he sent several of his 'photogenic drawings' to Bertoloni, who at once recognised the great possibilities of Talbot’s process.”]


Notes:

1. Bertoloni, Flora Italica: sistens plantas in Italia et in insulis circumstantibus sponte nascentes (Bologna: Ex typographaeo Richardi Masii, 1833–1854).

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