Linnaeus welcomes Pehr Osbeck back after the summer, which he supposes has been very agreeable for Osbeck who lives so close to Carl Gustaf Tessin.
Linnaeus is also very glad to hear that his Chinese tea-set is in Stockholm. He hopes that it has not been damaged on the way, especially as it has not been repacked. Linnaeus asks Osbeck to send it by one of the daily ships from Stockholm to Uppsala and to ask the skipper very emphatically to guard it like gold. Linnaeus will collect it himself at the customs office, so that nobody else touches it.
Linnaeus thanks Osbeck for seeds and asks what kind of soil Osbeckia requires. The Lonicera does not seem to ripen. Linnaeus asks if the Cireka is of the smaller variant.
Osbeck should ask Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin or Abraham Bäck about some detail on a snake that should not be forgotten or hidden.
Linnaeus has recently been in Stockholm and will presumably not have time to go there again before Christmas. He has received 100 rare plants from London; Johannes Burman has sent seventy from the Cape, some of them rare. Argenia flowers in the garden with one flower, a very strange one that Linnaeus has never seen before. The two variants of Musa flower. This summer Linnaeus has had quite a lot in his garden in Uppsala [the Uppsala University Botanical Garden] that has not flowered there before.
Linnaeus hopes that Osbeck will soon be ready to print his travel report. Linnaeus will not stop talking about it until it is published. Osbeck should contact a printer immediately, so that they are not busy with other things. [The travel report was published in 1757, Dagbok öfwer en ostindisk resa].
Linnaeus has received the second part of Kalm’s travel report [Linnaeus refers to the En resa til Norra America].
Linnaeus has also received Georg Dionysius Ehret’s pictures of plants, published by Christopher Jacob Trew in Nürnberg [Linnaeus refers to the Plantae selectae]. They are the best botanical illustrations that Linnaeus has ever seen.
If Linnaeus could help Thollander in some way, he would be glad to do so; the only thing needed is a simple letter of recommendation.
Linnaeus wishes Osbeck could come and spend some time with him.