Description
Autograph Letter Signed ‘Wm. J.Burchell’, to the Hon. Andrew Orr in Glasgow, confirming his intention to be present at the Meeting of the British Association at Glasgow. A fine one page example, 7 x 4 inches. Churchfield House, Fulham, 13 August 1855. William John Burchell (1781-1863),explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist and author. Burchell travelled in South Africa between 1810 and 1815, collecting over 50,000 botanical specimens, and covering over 7000 km, much over unexplored terrain. He described his journey in Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa, a two-volume work appearing in 1822 and 1824. He travelled in Brazil between 1825 and 1830, again collecting a large number of specimens, including over 20,000 insects. His extensive African collections included plants, animal skins, skeletons, insects, seeds, bulbs and fish. The bulk of his plant specimens went to Kew and the insects to Oxford University Museum. He is known for the copious and accurate notes he made to accompany every collected specimen, detailing habit and habitat, as well as the numerous drawings and paintings of landscapes, portraits, costumes, people, animals and plants.