Catalogue description British Museum (Natural History): Department of Botany: 'Biographical Index' by Britten, Boulger and Rendle, Papers

This series consists of the correspondence, notes and annotated copies left to Alfred B Rendle by James Britten, together with the card index, notes and further correspondence that he himself generated. The papers contain much information not published in the Biographical index.

Access conditions: Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

The series was transferred to the archives from the Botany Library in 1990.

• People: John Ardagh (1885-1949)
• George Edward Simonds Boulger (1853-1922)
• James Britten (1846-1924)
• Alfred Barton Rendle (1865-1938)

A biographical index of British and Irish botanists by James Britten (1846-1924) and George S Boulger (1853-1922) was first published in instalments in the Journal of Botany between 1888 and 1891, and was revised and published as a book in 1893. Supplements were issued in 1899, 1905 and 1908, and the authors made some progress on a new edition before their deaths. In his will, Britten left the production of the second edition to Alfred B Rendle (1865-1938), but the task was so great that it was not completed until 1931, the year after Rendle's retirement from the Museum. He received a large amount of help from John Ardagh (1885-1949), who was the clerk in charge of the Botany Library.

Although never strictly speaking an official Museum project, the Biographical index of British and Irish botanists was closely associated with the Department of Botany for many years. In 1977 R G C Desmond published a complete revision of the work, entitled Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturalists.