Hugh Davies, Beaumares, Anglesea, to James Edward Smith, Norwich, Norfolk

• Main Author: Davies, Hugh
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Goodenough; Griffith; Lent; Moses; Porbeagle
• Online Access: http://linnean-online.org/61769/; http://linnean-online.org/61769/1/JES-COR-4-30_001.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/2/JES-COR-4-30_002.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/3/JES-COR-4-30_003.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/4/JES-COR-4-30_004.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/5/JES-COR-4-30_005.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/6/JES-COR-4-30_006.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/7/JES-COR-4-30_007.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/8/JES-COR-4-30_008.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/9/JES-COR-4-30_009.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/10/JES-COR-4-30_010.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/11/JES-COR-4-30_011.tif; http://linnean-online.org/61769/12/JES-COR-4-30_012.tif

Five items enclosed, comprising: 1. [4.45] Letter from Davies to Smith. Sends a possible paper for "Linnean Transactions". Relates his good health although his peace of mind has been disturbed by [Edward] Donovan's [(1768-1837) zoologist] malignity. Believes Donovan's vanity and a "wish to be conspicuous" led to him to dispute sections of [Thomas] Pennant's "British Zoology" in order to support his own work, knowing Pennant to be dead and believing Davies and Pennant's illustrator [Moses] Griffith [(1749-c 1809)] to be also dead. Asks Smith to compare a handwritten extract from Donovan's "History of Fishes" [4.48], a sketch of the Beaumaris shark [4.47], printed letter from Moses Griffith [4.49], and the figure of the shark in "British Zoology". 2. [4.47] Traced copy of Davies' original drawing of the Beaumaris Shark, the same which he lent to Edward Donovan, asks Smith to compare it to the reduced copy which appears in "British Zoology" and the "audacious" account Donovan gives in the 'Squalus cornubicus' article in "History of British Fishes", note to also see [Samuel] Goodenough's article on the Porbeagle shark in "Linnean Transactions". 3. [4.48] Handwritten extract from article on 'Squalus cornubicus' from Donovan's "History of British Fishes", in which Donovan claims that Davies' drawing of the shark as it appears in "British Zoology" is altered from the original to such an extent that a very different fish is conveyed, implying that this led to Goodenough erroneously claiming in "Linnean Transactions" that the 'Squalus cornubicus' could not be the same as the Beaumaris shark. 4. [4.49] Printed extract from a letter written by Moses Griffith and published in "the Cambrian" 30 Dec 1809 refuting Donovan's claims that he was dead and defending himself against criticism of his draughtsman skills. 5. [4.50] Printed "Extracts from the North Wales Gazette" 1 March and 8 March 1810. Davies first defended against Donovan's accusations of Davies spreading falsehoods in the June 1809 "Gentleman's Magazine". Donovan replied in the August 1809 and September 1809 "Gentleman's Magazine". Davies was apparently prevented from replying again in the "Gentleman's Magazine" so recoursed to the North Wales Gazette in which he makes a lenghty defense. Davies has annotated sections with page references to Pennant's "Tours in Wales".