Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1812–1813 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 volume, measuring about 27 x 24 x 10 cm, containing two title-leaves, two indexes (one for each year), eight blank leaves (four after the indexes and four after the second title-page), and 192 letters and other papers pasted onto guards. One of the title-leaves is at the beginning, followed by the index; the other is after No. 92. The volume also contains a number of botanical specimens (see Nos. 69, 91, 95, 113, and 134). There is a stiff fly-leaf at the front and another at the back. Half-bound in light-brown leather and marbled paper.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dawson Turner was born and spent much of his life at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. He was admitted as an undergraduate at Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1793, but returned to Yarmouth before graduating, in order to take his place in the family banking business.
For some years Turner's chief interest was botany, particularly mosses, and he published several works on the subject and corresponded with many of the notable botanists of his day. In later life he concentrated on antiquarian pursuits, amassing a valuable collection of historical documents and autographs, as well as a substantial library which was eventually dispersed in a series of sales. He was a Fellow of various learned bodies, including the Royal Society, the Linnaean Society, and the Society of Antiquaries.
In 1796 Turner married Mary Palgrave, by whom he had eight surviving children. Mary Turner and her daughters were talented amateur artists; they were tutored in drawing by John Sell Cotman and also mastered the arts of etching and lithography. Between them they produced a significant number of sketches and prints, especially portraits and architectural studies, examples of which were often used by their father to embellish his books.
Repository
Archival history
See the general note under O.13.1. The following letters were removed from the volume before it came to the Library. Their current locations, where known, are shown in brackets (NRO = Norfolk Record Office).
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 11 Jan. 1812 (NRO, MC 2487/10).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 17 Jan. 1812.
Copy of a letter from W. J. Hooker, 8 Feb. 1812.
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 15 Feb. 1812 (NRO, MC 2487/11).
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 21 Feb. 1812 (NRO, MC 2487/12).
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 7 Mar. 1812 (NRO, MC 2487/13).
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 14 Mar. 1812 (NRO, MC 2487/14).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 24 Mar. 1812.
Letter from J. S. Cotman, 28 Mar. 1812 (NRO, MC 2487/15).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 17 Apr. 1812.
Letter from Hudson Gurney, 17 Apr. 1812 (TURN II K1/16).
Letter from Hudson Gurney, 25 Apr. 1812 (TURN II K1/17).
Letter from Mary Turner, 1 June 1812 (TURN II KK4/15).
Letter from Elizabeth and Maria Turner (Dawson Turner’s daughters), 6 June 1812 (TURN III A21, No. 1).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 13 Sept. 1812.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 20 Nov. 1812.
Letter from Hudson Gurney, 3 Dec. 1812 (TURN II K1/18).
Letter from Hudson Gurney, 22 Dec. 1812 (TURN II K1/19).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 23 Dec. 1812.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 28 Jan. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 5 Feb. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 18 Feb. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 27 Feb. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 1 Mar. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 10 Mar. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 14 Mar. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 26 Mar. 1813.
Letter from William Borrer, 30 Mar. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 5 Apr. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 17 Apr. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 27 Apr. 1813.
Letter from William Borrer, 14 May 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 16 May 1813.
Letter from Elizabeth Turner (Dawson Turner’s daughter), 24 May 1813.
Letter from Harriet Turner, 1813 (TURN II I1/1).
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 6 June 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 6 Dec. 1813.
Letter from W. J. Hooker, 8 Dec. 1813.
Letter from James Turner, 1813 (TURN II II1/4).
The letters from William Borrer were probably removed by mistake. The first was probably cut out together with the adjacent letter from James Turner.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
On the spine is stamped ‘CORRESPONDENCE | JAN.–DEC. | 1812–1813’. See below for descriptions of the contents. Turner has marked some of the letters with the date of reply. The contents include one letter (No. 8) written in 1811 and another (No. 156) partly written in 1814.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The documents are numbered in the order in which they stand.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- French
- German
- Latin
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Four loose documents, Nos. 5, 17, 19, and 31, have been removed from the volume for safe-keeping.
Finding aids
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Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
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Dates of creation revision deletion
This description was created by A. C. Green in 2021.