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To B.H. Hodgson

British Museum
Feb 6th 1845

My dear Sir

I saw in looking over the list of Birds that the Tibetan Pheasant that the 2 [Grandalleus[em] Caldeola?] has not been marked, it was at the stuffers when the list was being prepared, so it escaped, we did not retrieve any specimens of the Ganges Pelican but only a head. Besides the [587?] Birds distributed according to the list there are numerous specimens in so bad a state as not to be of any use to any person. What shall be done with them?
The catalogue we are preparing will contain a detailed list of every specimen we have received from you between 1840 and now. I send herewith a list of the Mammalia shewing how they and their bones have been distributed. If you let me have the list of Birds for a day the distribution of the Birds since should be added to it.
I should recommend the Bird Bones to be sent

1. To Coleges of Surgeons
2. To Museum Haslar Hospital the second best anatomical hospital in England
3. Leyden
4. Paris
   2, 3 and [?] will be very small in number. Mr. Strickland has written to say he's very much obliged to you for having given him some of your birds. I saw his note
   Yrs very truly
   J.E. Gray

My brother desires me to inform you the Sun Birds stuffed they come to 1. 5. 0 case and all. Shall they be sent to Canterbury or where. I here from Mr. Rees that they have found 50 drawings of Birds at the Zoological Society but they say they are waiting for your instruction to deliver them. Pray write to them.

To Brian Houghton Hodgson

26 July 1844
Brit. Mus.

My Dear Sir

I am sorry that you did not tell me you intended to send me a preamble or I would have directed the press to have been stoped to insert it when sent, the list was printed off last Friday with the corrections you made when you read the list over here. I don't think its important as very ornithologist of any reputation will duly estimate the value of the list and clearly see that it was prepared so as kindly to over look any errors in the nomenclature any they must be fully aware whenever your numerous and valuable papers have appeared if they are not, their appearance in my estimations would not be worthy of attention. The last was made out with care and verified so I don't see how any species could have been left out. Mr Brother desired Longmans & Co to send you the genera as he understood, you ordered him to do so. If you don't wish to keep it please send it back to him here, as soon as convenient Mr. brother assures me he has not in any way interfered with nor copied any of your [novelties?] nor will he do so without your express permission. The Indian Vulture was figured from a specimen from Bengal given to the Museum by General Hardwicke to which my brother had given a new name but when your list was received, he finding that you had already named it, out of compliment to you he adopted your name instead of his own. I have directed the duplicate specimens of your collection to be packed together into the Boxes. Shall they be sent to you? and what is the best manner of doing so. I know nothing of Mr [Howard] nor of his Proceedings nor of the specimens he has. I shall be detained in town until the end of the month by the marriage of my friend so that if you are ready, I can still come to make the selection
Believe me Dear Sir
Y[ou]rs Very Truly

J.E. Gray

Note
The duplicates amount to almost 860 birds and [20/28] Mammalia
the latter are all in bad condition

British Museum

To Brian Houghton Hodgson

29 Jan 1847

My dear Sir

As we are sending some of the copies of the catalogues I take the opportunity of sending you some letters which have been [waiting?] here. I hope the catalogue will be satisfactory to you, there are some points on which we may differ but such differences elicit truth while easy compliances only perpetuate error. I have just had a visit from Mr. Grace who gave me an account of you. I have looked over his skins he has no Mammalia and only three kinds of Birds not in your collection. Blyth appears to have treated him as he did you as he passed Calcutta. Your skeleton(s) has caused us to go on collecting others and now we have three times as many as they have in the College of Surgeons and nearly as many as they have in Paris except in [?]. We are printing a catalogue of them and your specimens will there appear again as they will in my new catalogue of Mammalia and Birds now in the press. You will see by the catalogue what are the desiderata of Skin and Bones but I shall be very glad to receive good fresh skins of each species and they shall be duly stuffed and [protected?] from London dust [?] soon makes new ones requisite and desirable. I shall send you a list of the Drawings but we have not so many hands here as you have in India and these things take time. I should much like to have the Wild Horse and Ass. What is the Kiang? I shall have a fine work on antelopes for you shortly
Ever yours truly

J.E. Gray

Canterbury Dec 27th 1844

J.E. Gray Esq
Keeper Zoological
Dept. British Museum

Sir,

With reference to the series of my drawings presented to the British Museum I have the honour to state to you that in refering to my own original drawings, from which those above averted to were copied for transmission to England. I find these original drawings to be in number as follows
2/ Anatomical and quasi anatomical
1/ Mammals 94
Birds 14 108 Sheets

 Ordinary or Non-Anatomical Mammals

11 Bats 7 Sheets
Quadrapeds 245

111 Birds
Old and New Series 826 Sheets

1V Fishes, Snakes, Lizards 24 Sheets
Frogs and Tortoises

3/ Of the above a nearly complete series of nos 11 and 111 were transmitted to England in regular numerical order on the smaller scale of about 20 inches by 12 and previously there had been sent a more than half of a series of ruder execution and upon a much larger scale
4 of the anatomical series or No. 1 only portions were sent to England and frequently in conjunction with the drawing of the species in questions. So also of the series No 1V only a small portion was ever transmitted

5/ Nevertheless the total of drawings transmitted from India exceeded what would seem to have been received by you; and the deficiency in your series appears to be [?] great particularly in the smaller sized drawings that I am led to request you will be pleased to give to me a fresh and careful statement of all the Drawings you possess distinguished into greater and lesser sized ones, and with the additional information when and whence you received them
6/ you will kindly let me have this information as soon as possible in order that I may [institute?] inquiries myself at the several channels of transmission
7/ you have recently received from me 52 sheets of Birds [210] of Mammals and I have this day delivered to your Apt. 19 more sheets of Birds and 1 of Mammals. These which are the sequel of the small series and ought nearly to complete it be pleased to include in your statement as above requested. There can be no question that a considerable number of the drawings despatched from India is not forthcoming at present if I may judge by the rough memo left with me by you, for, my species amount to 823 as per margin and not to mention that the larger series of Drawings and began far advanced in the copying when the lesser series was began there was not only a complete series on the smaller scale transmitted to England (inclusive of those delivered at Canterbury as above noted) but also several repeated and amended delineations of the same in that series particularly among the quadrupeds, and, lastly, in the new and small series of Drawings there [?] more than one species delineated on the same sheets so that there should be on the whole pretty nearly usually as many sheets as species
I have the honor etc
B.H. Hodgson

[Notes in Margin]
Nepal
Mammals 126
Birds 656
Tibet
Mammals 47[1]

To B.H. Hodgson

Lord Derby wrote to me that you have written to him shall I send off his box of Specimens? The list of Drawings only refer to The Mammalia

My Dear Sir
The list sent are correct in the numbers but the names as I am aware are ludicrously wrong but this arrived from the ignorance of the copyer but I thought you would be able to recognise them when you send them back the names shall be corrected. It was quite impossible to describe the new species until the whole collection was [sorted?] that the new and old might be compared and you appeared so fearfull that we should keep all that I concluded the sooner we could get the duplicates out of the Museum the better you would be please. The Mammalia their Heads and Horns exclusive of the of the more or less imperfect skeletons which are not yet unpacked have been sorted as follows
Skins Head and Horns
British Museum 170 195
Skins Skull and Horns
Collection n. 1 102 Ind. H
n. 2 78 ? [Leiden]
n. 3 48 Paris
n.4 37 Berlin
Collection Skull etc for Col. Surg 50 [58]
Horns for India House 45
Collection 5 - 7 For Mus. Frankf
6 - 1 [?] taken by Mr. Ogilby
Horns [Promican?] to Mus. Canterbury 2-

Bird Skins
British Museum 1753
No 1. Leyden M 655
2 Paris Leyden 536
4 Berlin 411
5 Frankfurt 352
6 321
7 290
8 259
No 9 237
No 10 213
11 205
12 169

The birds names are nearly finished I much fear that there are many errors in the numbering of them two very differing kind[s] having the same number and the Bills shew they evidently do not belong to the genus of the [?]

We have seen no more of Mr. Howard. Have you written to Mr Rees of the Zool. Soc. about the Drawing? I believe they have no or very few Birds [Bones] at the Zool. Soc. The anatomical museum I mentioned was Haslar near Gosport under the care of Dr. John Richardson the arctic traveller.
Yours ever
J.E. Gray

Canterbury Dec '27 1844

J.E. Gray Esq
Keeper Zoological Dept
British Museum

Sir,

With reference to the series of my drawings presented to the British Museum I have the honor to state to you that on refering to my own original drawings from which those above averted to were copied for transmission to England, I find the original Drawings to be in number as follows
2/ Anatomical and quasi anatomical

1. Mammals - 94 108 Sheets
   Birds - 14
   Ordinary or Non-Anatomical
2. Mammals
   Bats 7 Sheets
   Quadrupeds 245 Sheets
   111 Birds
   Old and new Series 826 Sheets

IV Fishes, Snakes, Lizards
Frogs and Tortoises 24 Sheets

3/ Of the above a nearly complete Series of Nos 11 and 111 were transmitted to England in regular numerical order on the smaller scale of about 20 inches by 12, and, previously there had been sent more than half of the series of [ruder] execution and upon a much larger scale.
4/ Of the anatomical series or No. 1 only portions were sent to England, and frequently in connexion with the Drawings of the species in question So also of the series No 1V only a small portion was ever transmitted.
5/ Nevertheless the total of drawings transmitted from India exceeded what would seem to have been received by you ad the deficiency in your series appears to be so great particularly in the small sized drawings that I am led to request you will be pleased to give me a fresh and a careful Statement of all the Drawings you possess distinguished into greater and lesser sized ones, with the additional information when and whence you received them.
6/ You will kindly let me have this information as soon as possible in order that I may institute inquiries myself at the several channels of transmission
7 you have recently received from me 52 sheets of Birds and 10 of Mammals and I have this day delivered to your [Apt.?] 19 more sheets of Birds and 1 of mammals these which are the [sequel?] of the small series and ought nearly to complete it you will be pleased to include in your Statement as above requested.
8/ There can be no question that a considerable number of Drawings despatched from India is not forthcoming at present if I may judge by the rough Memo left with me by you for my species amount to 823 as per margin
Nepal Mammals 126
Birds 656
Tibet Mammals 47
and, not to mention that the larger Series of Drawings was far advanced in the copying when the lesser series was began there was not only a nearly complete series on the smaller scale transmitted to England (inclusive of those delivered at Canterbury as above noted) but also several repeated and amended delineations of the same species in that series, particularly among the quadrupeds; and lastly, in the new and small series of Drawings there were seldome more than one species delineated on the same sheet, so that there should be on the whole pretty nearly as many sheets as species
I have the honor to be
Signed
B.H. Hodgson