This collection consists of correspondence and miscellaneous materials belonging to taxonomist and collector Arthur Wallis Exell (1901–1993).

Letters (all handwritten and signed):

1. Exell to Le Testu, n.p., n.d. (ca.1951). French, 2 pages

Exell discusses Georges Le Testu’s (1877–1967) offer to leave his herbarium to the British Museum; remarks that he is working on the Conspectus Florae Angolensis (Lisboa, Portugal, 1937) with Francisco de Ascensão Mendonça (1889-1982) and that they are presently working on the Malvaceae and Connaceae familes; suggests that Le Testu transfer certain families from his herbarium to that of Exell and Mendonça as they proceed in their work, adding that thus Le Testu’s plants will immediately get the careful attention they deserve and that Le Testu will as well be apprised of any discoveries made; notes that George Taylor and W.R. Philipson have already begun again their study of, respectively, the family Podostemaceae and the genus Vernonia (apparently working with material from Le Testu); and states that “our” herbarium is now entirely reorganized and that he believes it to be one of the world’s best equipped.

2. Le Testu to Exell, Caen, 2 June 1951. French, 2 pages.

Georges Le Testu (1877–1967) refers to Exell’s identification of specimens Le Testu sent belonging to a new family, “démebrée des Linacées,” and a new genus, Pinacopodium; remarks that he would have made the determination Erythroxylon; and says he will find it hard to send more, as his health has been poor.

3. Chase, Umtali, Rhodesia, to Exell, Oxford, 5 July 1967. English, 1 page.

Norman Centlivres Chase (1888–1970) gives biographical information on Keith Coates Palgrave (1926–1991) and Herold Georg Wilhelm Johannes Schweickerdt (1903–1977).

4. Exell to Ledoux, Loudwater, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, 22 October 1930. English, 2 pages.

Exell compliments Paul Vincent Désiré Ledoux (1898–1984) on his description of Entandrophragma gillardinii; will be delighted to see him and invites him to spend a weekend at their home; will be glad to receive copies of Ledoux’s publications; will send Ledoux photographs, and may include Antirrhinum seeds.

5. Exell, Gloucester, to Bossert, Pittsburgh, 17 April 1971. English, 3 pages.

Exell acknowledges Theodore W. Bossert’s (1897–1985) letter of 12 April; says photo of Rand (?) is on its way; he is sending photos of plant collectors, one of Frederick Eyles (1864–1937) and one of Francisco Leal de Lemos (1915–1963), which he would like returned; sends biographical information on Chase, Eyles, and Le Testu; discusses other letters that may be of interest to Bossert.

Other materials include:

Annotated chart detailing the journey of Hermenegildo Augusto Brito Capello (1839–1917) and Robert Ivens (1850-1898) through Africa, 1884–1885. Includes date and location (with latitude and longitude). Portuguese, typescript with handwritten notations.

Three typescript manuscripts, signed:

“Visiting the Brussels Herbarium in the 1920s,” 2 pages Biography of Dr. Raymond Hamet, 1985, 2 pages Diary, “Islands of the Gulf of Guinea,” 1932–1933, 17 pages