Pen and brown ink, inscribed in pen and brown ink on the lower margin Quercus Kelloggi Newb. half and size/ Vb Mr J. S. Col Newberry port Ref J.ge 28 and at base 77 and 3G on wove paper

292 x 180 mm (11 x 7 1/8 in.)

Condition: The paper and ink are in an excellent condition, there is a surface crease visible in raking light.

An extremely rare and important botanical ink drawing by Sereno Watson. The plant name refers to physician and botanist, John Strong Newberry (1822-1892), who first named the Californian black oak, 'Quercus Kelloggii Newb.', in 1857 after the pioneer Californian botanist, Dr Albert Kellogg (1813-1887). Under the direction of Lt. Robert S. Williamson, Newberry was the chief botanist in the 1855 expedition surveying the area between San Francisco and the Columbia River to find the best route for a railroad to extend from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. The record of the survey was published in Reports of Explorations and Surveys, to Ascertain the Most Practicable and Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Made under the Direction of the Secretary of War, in 1854-55. It was published in 1857 (Washington). An example of Quercus Kelloggii Newb. was illustrated in Volume 6, part 3 of the Botanical Report by John Strong Newberry but is not identical to our drawing which may possibly have been created by Sereno Watson around 1876 for William H.Brewer and the Geological Survey of California (Vol.1,1876 and Vol.2,1880).