ABSTRACT
William Roxburgh was a Scots surgeon and botanist often styled as the ‘father of Indian botany’. He published many acclaimed works collating and describing botanical species accompanied by his own illustrations. In particular, Flora Indica, published in 1820 five years after his death, is generally held to be the first detailed catalogue of the flora of the Indian subcontinent. Roxburgh studied medicine at Edinburgh University and then joined the East India Company as a surgeon’s mate in 1772. Although not founded as an official botanical gardens until 1840, as the letter testifies, Kew Gardens had been in operation as a repository of flora specimens from around the world since 1759. Joseph Banks, to whom Roxburgh is writing, was the pivotal figure behind the development of Kew Gardens and a legendary figure in botany, having made his name accompanying Captain James Cook on his famous voyage to Australia and the South Pacific on board the Endeavour from 1768–1771.
