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Document number: 01590
Date: Sat 01 Sep 1827
Postmark: 1 Sep 1827
Recipient: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Author: STRANGWAYS William Thomas Horner Fox
Collection: British Library, London, Manuscripts - Fox Talbot Collection
Last updated: 30th January 2012

Abbotsbury <1>

Saturday

Dear Henry

Pray write me word if the Ls– <2> are arrived at Bowood <3> & how long they are likely to stay as I must continue my journey accordingly – I wish your house hold cares would allow you to come here for a few days – the garden is in a most beautiful state of wilderness, at every step one stumbles on something strange Lycopsis pulla I hear is not an introduction of mine but has been known as a noxious weed in the parish many years – a purple mesembryanthemum is also a weed coming up in the awkwardest places, but a pretty weed I have no objection to – I have one arborescent one that beats all Gostnias[?] or Marygolds &c for brilliancy – it has long horns to the calyx – Knautia orientalis is a very pretty plant – also Linaria pubescens – & Camp. lanuginosa & lactiflora excite the admiration of every body – However doubtful the ripening seed may be, the plants are so much handsomer in most instances in the open ground than in the spare pots of the Giardino dei Semplici that you would hardly know them – Did you ever seeCoronilla securidaca in seed? it is like a Catherine wheel – lomentis cirrhosis <4>– The Cisti are blowing a second time & Metrosid. lanceolata & floribunda in fruit. There are diminutive olives on the olive tree – Lavatera Weinmanni very pretty – Hibiscus cannabinus beautiful – I hope to keep some through the Winter – I have two new Sisyrinchium a white & yellow very pretty – & half a dozen plants of Sol. pseudocaps: <5> in various places which have stood the winter & some will flower – three Psoraleas which may be called hardy – Vicia pseudocracca in great beauty & many other peas & vetches – Cistus halimifolius is a great ornament – & perfectly hardy – a Thalictrum 8 feet high – plenty of Gnaph <6> stœchas Salvia sclarea, virgata, campestris, Œ&[illegible]<7> Linum virginicum & a blue very like L. angustifolium but annual, larger, darker, & not so tall – Convolvulus [sic] bracteatus, siculus, hirsutus Ipom. sibirica – Crucianelle 2 or 3 Scutellarias Uniola latifolia, Cufea viscosa in flower, Chrysanth. maximum, veronica incana, Camp. grandiflora & murasupiif. & fragilis – scabiosa White, transylvanica in quantity, tenuifolia, Asph. fistulosus Creticus, Astrag. hamosus, Ornith. compressus – Phytolacca Verb. <8> sinuatum – phœniceum – A pretty yellow Sida & another with small red flowers & cut leaves quite a weed – If you want any seeds or roots let me know & I will leave a Mem. when I go – I went to Boyton <9>, Kilmington <10> & Melbury <11> all which were flourishing – at K. the prettiest artificial rockwork I ever saw – At Stourhead I found wild – the Stagshorn Lycopodium Mr S. had raised Centaurea – Crupina & Euphorbia dulcis, which faild [sic] here – I have a Euphor I cannot make out – Alyssum saxatile – & campan. verticillata. The Oleander is beautiful – do you remember whether it grows out of doors at Paris? – Has Mr Moore <12> heard the Polish airs <13>? Have you found any more hidden treasures – or secret staircases?

Yr Aff
W F S.

John <14> has been heard of still at Aleppo 11th July heartily tired & hoping to get away shortly full of gratitude to Mr Lesseps <15> – I propose calling the next new genus Lessepsia <16>

Henry F. Talbot Esq
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham


Notes:

1. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.

2. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, nιe Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838, WHFT's aunt; and her husband, Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne.

3. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.

4. With tufted seed-vessel.

5. Solanum pseudocapsicum.

6. Gnaphalium.

7. Text obscured under seal.

8. Verbascum.

9. The home of A. B. Lambert.

10. The home of the Rev Townshend Selwyn, a brother-in-law of the 3rd Earl of Ilchester.

11. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.

12. Thomas Moore (1780–1852), Irish poet.

13. Moore published a series of Moore's National melodies(Philadelphia: G.E. Blake, 1820–1821).

14. John George Charles Fox Strangways (1803–1859), MP.

15. Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805–1894), French diplomat who supervised the construction of the Suez Canal.

16. There is no such published name of a genus, thus the proposal was probably not carried into official action.