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462 BULLETIN OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB VOL. 93
that the publication will be noted for "quality craftsmanship and typographical beauty." Then, because the Library is strongest in its holdings of books which were printed at a time when mechanical uniformity of the finished product was far from guaranteed, an accurate description of any of these older works usually requires a very detailed, bibliographic analysis of the work which is expressed in a very specialized kind of bibliographic shorthand.
Since this is a shorthand generally familiar only to the specialist, one of the articles in volume 1 of Huntia presents a lengthy explanation by Ian MacPhail, of the terms and symbols used in this technical language. For the most part, descriptions of books in this terminology of the professional bibliographer, which presumably, will be a more or less regular feature of Huntia, will probably appeal mainly to the bibliophile—antiquarian type reader than to the general botanist—be he the "classical botany"—advocate or a devotee of the "new systematics." The taxonomist or plant geographer will, perhaps, not be so deeply interested in what kind of paper was used in a certain book, or how the paper was folded to give it the size it has. (See, for example, the bibliographical account of L'Heritier's Stirpes Novae, an excellent example of the remarkable knowledge and skill required in preparing this kind of analysis.)
On the other hand, the botanist will be exceedingly interested in the article by John Heller, tracing the early history of binomial nomenclature, with special attention to Linnaeus' own development of this system. This article, by a chairman of a department of classics is a stimulating example, by the way, of the benefits derived when the "two cultures" meet. (Dr. Heller will be recalled for his "index of books and authors cited by Linnaeus," in the Ray Society facsimile edition of the Species Plantarum.) Likewise every botanist will enjoy reading Herbert Baker's article on the controversy involving Charles Darwin, Thomas Mehan, Ana Gray, and the Rev. George Henslow over heterostyly in Linum perenne and Linum lewisii.
Huntia is only one of the publications of the Hunt Botanical Library, which also sponsors re-prints of specially selected, out-of-print botanical works, or printings by hitherto unpublished manuscripts. So, in Huntia, we find reports on works already published by the Library or those which are in the process of appearance. These reports will be of interest to a wide group of readers as well as, also, the various biographies scattered through the two volumes. In the latter, the style is generally more relaxed and informal since, in many cases, the author is writing about someone he knew personally, often as a close friend, and the results are warm and appealing portraits. Such is the case with the biographies of Mrs. Hunt, herself, and Jane Quimby, her first librarian (both written by the present director of the Library, George Lawrence, who is also editor of Huntia). Such, too, is the case with Elizabeth Kay's recollection of David Fairchild or Chester Arnold's memoirs of Percy Train.
Two contributions concerned with botanical art deserve special mention. One is Richard Rudolph's story of how a Japanese botanist, Iwasaki Tsunemasi, adapted some 25 illustrations from Wiemann's Phytanthoza into his famous work on systematic botany, Hosokawa. This is another fine example of an outstanding contribution to the field of botany by a linguist. (Dr. Rudolph is a professor of Oriental languages.)
The other article, by Alice Coutts, presents her selection of some 17 portraits of British botanists and gardeners, to which are added the author's interesting and perceptive comments. (The next time, by the way, you are led impelled to criticize our long-haired beatniks, turn to the picture of Sir Joseph Banks in his teens (p. 188, volume 2).
A review such as this can hardly mention every item in the table of contents of the two volumes. Still I cannot close this summary without referring to a section which lists the 1964 acquisitions of botanical illustrations. This is one department of the Library which concentrates on the work of contemporary artists and illustrators. The plates shown here are such excellent examples of botanical art and so effective as plant portraits that it would be safe to predict that, in the future, this department of the Library may well become one of its most important, as well as most popular, sections.
A closing note may be in order. The Library is making a special effort to collect holograph letters of botanists (and others who contributed to botanical knowledge), as well as portraits (in all media) of botanists, living or deceased. Readers who have such materials, which they would be willing to make available to the Library are urged to communicate with the director of the Library, Dr. Lawrence—IDA LANGMAN, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560.
