School of Geography
 

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Charles Watkins

Professor of Rural Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences

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Research Summary

Cultural and environmental geography of trees: He is currently writing a book on European forest cultures, histories and conservation for Reaktion Press. Recent books include Rediscovering Lost… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

Cultural and environmental geography of trees: He is currently writing a book on European forest cultures, histories and conservation for Reaktion Press. Recent books include Rediscovering Lost Landscapes: Topographical Art in north-west Italy, 1800-1920 (2021, with Pietro Piana and Ross Balzaretti, Boydell Press); Trees in Art (2018, Reaktion) and Trees, Woods and Forests (2014, Reaktion). He edited with Keith Kirby (Oxford Forestry Institute) European woods and forests, with 24 commissioned chapters from authors across Europe on the relevance of historical studies to the conservation and management of woods and forests. Europe's Changing Woods and Forests CABI 2015.

Topographical art and landscape history of N W Italy. He directed the Leverhulme Trust Project British topographical art and landscape in NW Italy which ran from 2016-2020. See Rediscovering Lost Landscapes: Topographical Art in north-west Italy, 1800-1920 (2021) (with Pietro Piana and Ross Balzaretti, Boydell Press). Research continues in this area.

Animal geographies: Research includes Daniel Allen, Charles Watkins and David Matless (2016) 'An incredibly vile sport': campaigns against otter hunting in Britain, 1900-1939 Rural History 27, 79-10; Robert Hearn, Ross Balzaretti and Charles Watkins The Wolf in the Landscape: Antonio Cesena and Attitudes to Wolves in Sixteenth-Century Liguria (2015) Rural History 26 1-16 and Robert Hearn, Charles Watkins and Ross Balzaretti The cultural and land use implications of the reappearance of the wild boar in North West Italy: A case study of the Val di Vara (2014) Journal of Rural Studies 36 52-63

I am keen to supervise research students interested in the following topics

1. Cultural and historical geographies of trees and woodlands 2. Topographical art and landscape history 3. Animal geographies 4. Agriculture and forest history, nature conservation and management 5. Rural geography

Past Research

A cultural geography of tree collections and arboreta funded by the AHRC (with Stephen Daniels and Paul Elliott). The British Arboretum (2011) was published by Pickering and Chatto in 2011. See also the special issue of Garden History 35 Supplement 2 2007 Cultural and Historical Geographies of the Arboretum. The project webpage is at:http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~lgzwww/contacts/staffPages/Arboretums/index.html

The Picturesque and Uvedale Price: The first full biography of Price: Uvedale Price (1747-1829) Decoding the Picturesque (with Ben Cowell) was published in 2012 by Boydell Press. A paperback edition was published in 2015. Uvedale Price: Decoding the Picturesque. A critical edition of his letters was published as Volume 68 by the Walpole Society: http://www.walpolesociety.org.uk/publications/publications.php?searchfield=&recfrom=60

  • PIETRO PIANA, CHARLES WATKINS and IVAN TEKIC, 2020. Topographical art and the rediscovery of lost landscapes:understanding Ligurian rewilding 1850-2020 Landscapes. 20(2), 1-24
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2020. Woodland management and art Quarterly Journal of Forestry. 114(2), 51-56
  • NEVEN TANDARIC, CHRIS IVES and CHARLES WATKINS, 2020. Can we plan for cultural ecosystem services? Journal of Urban Ecology. 6,
  • P. PIANA, C. WATKINS and R. BALZARETTI, 2019. The Palm Landscapes of the Italian Riviera Landscapes.
  • NEVEN TANDARIC and CHARLES WATKINS, 2019. Urban planning in the Socialist Republic of Croatia Hrvatski Geografski Glasnik. 81(2), 5-41
  • NICOLA GABELLIERI and CHARLES WATKINS, 2019. Measuring long-term landscape change using historical photographs and the WSL Monoplotting Tool Landscape History. 40(1), 93-109
  • PIETRO PIANA, CHARLES WATKINS and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2019. Photography, topographical art and cartography: the productive landscape of the Italian Riviera Annali di Ricerche e Studi di Geografia. 74, 39-52
  • PIETRO PIANA, FRANCESCO FACCINI, FABIO LUINO, GUIDO PALIAGA, ALESSANDRO SACCHINI and CHARLES WATKINS, 2019. Geomorphological landscape research and flood management in a heavily modified Tyrrhenian catchment Sustainability. 11(17), 4594
  • RAFFAELLA BRUZZONE, CHARLES WATKINS, ROSS BALZARETTI and CARLO MONTANARI, 2018. Botanical relics of a lost landscape: herborising 'upon the cliffs above the pharos' in Genoa, March 1664 Landscape Research. 43(1), 20-36
  • PIETRO PIANA, CHARLES WATKINS and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2018. Art and landscape history: British artists in nineteenth-century Val d'Aosta (north-west Italy) Landscape History. 39(2), 91-108
  • PIETRO PIANA, CHARLES WATKINS and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2018. Travel, modernity and rural landscapes in nineteenth-century Liguria Rural History. 29(2), 167-193
  • PIETRO PIANA, CHARLES WATKINS and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2018. Topographical art and historical geography: amateur English representations of Ligurian landscapes in the early nineteenth century Geostorie. 26(3), 195-221
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2018. Trees in Art Reaktion Books.
  • ANNA ROCCATI, FABIO LUINO, LAURA TURCONI, PIETRO PIANA, CHARLES WATKINS and FRANCESCO FACCINI, 2018. Historical geomorphological research of a Ligurian coastal floodplain (Italy) and its value for management of flood risk and environmental sustainability Sustainability. 10(10), 3727
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2017. In: In Focus: Constable's 'Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows' 1831 Landscape Management Tate Research Publication.
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2017. The Cedar of Lebanon in England: the Introduction and Reception of a Sacred Tree. In: MARTHA MIDDLEMISS LÉ MON and MATHEW GUEST, eds., Death, Life and Laughter: Essays on religion in honour of Douglas Davies Routledge. 119-137
  • DANIEL ALLEN, CHARLES WATKINS and DAVID MATLESS, 2016. 'An incredibly vile sport': Campaigns against otter hunting in Britain, 1900-39 Rural History. 27(1), 79-101
  • FACCINI, FRANCESCO, PALIAGA, GUIDO, PIANA, PIETRO, SACCHINI, ALESSANDRO and WATKINS, CHARLES, 2016. The Bisagno stream catchment (Genoa, Italy) and its major floods: geomorphic and land use variations in the last three centuries Geomorphology. 273, 14-27
  • HEARN, R., BALZARETTI, R. and WATKINS, C., 2015. The wolf in the landscape. Antonio Cesena and attitudes to wolves in sixteenth-century Liguria Rural History: Economy, Society, Culture. 26(1), 1-16
  • KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, eds., 2015. Europe's changing woods and forests: From wildwood to managed landscapes CABI.
  • ROBERTA CEVASCO, DIEGO MORENO, ROSS BALZARETTI and CHARLES WATKINS, 2015. Historical chestnut cultures, climate and rural; landscapes in the Apennines. In: DAVID HARVEY and JIM PERRY, eds., The Future of Heritage as Climates Change Loss, Adaptation and Creativity Routledge. 130-148
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2015. Methods and approaches in the study of woodland history. In: KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, eds., Europe's changing woods and forests CABI. 18-32
  • KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, 2015. Overview of Europe's woods and forests. In: KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, eds., Europe's changing woods and forests CABI. 3-17
  • KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, 2015. The forest landscape before farming. In: KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, eds., Europe's changing woods and forests CABI. 33-45
  • KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, 2015. Evolution of modern landscapes. In: KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, eds., Europe's changing woods and forests CABI. 46-58
  • CHARLES WATKINS and KEITH KIRBY, 2015. Reflections. In: KEITH KIRBY and CHARLES WATKINS, eds., Europe's changing woods and forests CABI. 347-350
  • ROSS BALZARETTI, PIETRO PIANA and CHARLES WATKINS, 2015. Travelling in Italy during Turner’s Lifetime. In: DAVID BLAYNEY BROWN, ed., J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours
  • HEARN, R., WATKINS, C. and BALZARETTI, R, 2014. The cultural and land use implications of the reappearance of wild boar in North West Italy: a case study in the Val di Vara Journal of Rural Studies. 36, 52-63
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2014. 'Nature too wild?': picturesque landscaping and Uvedale Price Japanese Journal of Human Geography. 66-6, 19-33
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 2014. Trees, Woods and Forests. A Social and Cultural History Reaktion.
  • CHARLES WATKINS, SANDRO LAGOMARSINI and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2013. Remnant Vaccinium myrtillus on the lower slopes of Mt Zatta, Cassego and Scurtabo, Alta Val di Vara. In: ROBERTA CEVASCO, ed., La Natura della Montagna Oltre Edizioni. 509-514
  • CHARLES WATKINS and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2013. Recent vegetation change following abandonment at Canavadigiolo, Teviggio, Alta Val di Vara. In: ROBERTA CEVASCO, ed., La Natura della Montagna Oltre Edizioni. 515-521
  • CHARLES WATKINS and ROSS BALZARETTI, 2013. Recent vegetation change at Palarino, Teviggio, Alta Val di Vara. In: ROBERTA CEVASCO, ed., La Natura della Montagna Oltre Edizioni. 522-528
  • ROSS BALZARETTI and CHARLES WATKINS, 2013. The landscape history of Liguria fieldcourse of the University of Nottingham. In: ROBERTA CEVASCO, ed., La Natura della Montagna 204-210
  • WATKINS, C. and COWELL, B., 2012. Uvedale Price 1747-1829: decoding the picturesque Boydell and Brewer.
  • PIETRO PIANA, ROSS BALZARETTI, DIEGO MORENO and CHARLES WATKINS, 2012. Topographical art and landscape history: Elizabeth Fanshawe (1779-1856) in early nineteenth-century Liguria Landscape History. 33(2), 65-81
  • ELLIOTT, P., WATKINS, C. and DANIELS, S., 2011. The British arboretum: science, trees and culture in the nineteenth century Pickering and Chatto.
  • WATKINS, CHARLES, 2011. The Prices, Foxley and politics in the 1790s. In: LOWE, R., ed., Essays in honour of Jim and Muriel Tonkin Woolhope Club. 129-142
  • MATLESS, D., WATKINS, C. and MERCHANT, P., 2010. Nature trails: the production of instructive landscapes in Britain 1960-1972 Rural History. 21(1), 97-131
  • TACHIBANA, S. WATKINS, C., 2009. Transculturation of Trees and Shrubs: the Introduction of Aucuba japonica and Larix leptolepis in Britain. In: SARATSI, S, BURGI, M, JOHANN, E, KIRBY, K. MORENO, D and WATKINS, C., eds., Woodland Cultures in Time and Space Embryo Publications, Athens. 236-243
  • WATKINS, C and ELLIOTT, P. DANIELS, S., 2009. The Role of Tree Collections and Arboreta in Nineteenth Century English Forestry. In: SARATSI, S, BURGI, M, JOHANN, E, KIRBY, K. MORENO, D and WATKINS, C., eds., Woodland Cultures in Time and Space Embryo Publications, Athens. 244-251
  • SARATSI, E, BURGI, M., KIRBY, K, MORENO, D, WATKINS, C. and JOHANN, E, eds., 2009. Woodland Cultures in Time and Space Embryo Publications, Athens.
  • FISH, R, SEYMOUR, S and WATKINS, C. AND STEVEN, M., 2008. Agendas for sustainable farmland management. In: FISH, R, SEYMOUR, S and WATKINS, C. AND STEVEN, M., eds., Sustainable Farmland Management. Transdisciplinary Approaches CABI. 1-22
  • ELLIOTT, PAUL, DANIELS, STEPHEN and WATKINS, CHARLES, 2008. The Nottingham Arboretum (1852): natural history, leisure and public culture in a Victorian regional centre Urban History. 35(1), 48-71 (In Press.)
  • FISH, ROBERT, SEYMOUR, SUSANNE, WATKINS, CHARLES and STEVEN, MICHAEL, eds., 2008. Sustainable Farmland Management. Transdisciplinary Approaches CABI.
  • ELLIOTT, P., WATKINS, C. and DANIELS, S, 2007. 'Combining science with recreation and pleasure': cultural geographies of nineteenth-century arboretums Garden History. 37(Supplement 2), 6-27
  • CHARLES WATKINS, DAVID MATLESS AND PAUL MERCHANT, 2007. Science, sport and the otter, 1945-1978. In: RICHARD HOYLE, ed., Our hunting fathers. Field sports in England, 1850-1980 Carnegie. 165-186
  • ELLIOTT, P., WATKINS, C. and DANIELS, S., 2007. William Barron (1805-91) and Nineteenth-century British arboriculture: evergreens in Victorian industrialising society Garden History. 37(Supplement 2), 129-148
  • HAINES-YOUNG, R., WATKINS, C., WALE, C. and MURDOCK, A., 2006. Modelling natural capital: the case of landscape restoration on the South Downs, England Landscape and Urban Planning. 75(3-4), 244-264
  • WATKINS, C.W. and COWELL, B., 2006. Letters of Uvedale Price Leeds: Produced for the Walpole Society by Maney Publishing.
  • FISH, R., SEYMOUR, S. and WATKINS, C., 2006. Sustainable farmland management as political and cultural discourse The Geographical Journal. 172(3), 183-189
  • SHORT, B., WATKINS, C. and MARTIN, J., 2006. 'The front line of freedom': state-led agricultural revolution in Britain, 1939-1945 Agricultural History Review: Supplement Series. 4(British Farming in the Second World War), 1-15
  • MARK RILEY AND CHARLES WATKINS, 2006. The value of the National Farm Survey and contemporary aerial photographs for environmental history Agricultural History Review: Supplement Series. 4(British Farming in the Second World War), 204-216
  • WATKINS, CHARLES and COWELL, BEN., 2006. 'Mr Price the Picturesque': critic, connoisseur and landscape enthusiast Volume of the Walpole Society. 68, 1-77
  • SHORT, B., WATKINS, C. and MARTIN, J., eds., 2006. The front line of freedom: British farming in the Second World War Exeter: British Agricultural History Society.
  • WATKINS, CHARLES. and COWELL, BEN., 2006. Letters of Uvedale Price Volume of the Walpole Society. 68, 79-359
  • MATLESS, D., MERCHANT, P. and WATKINS, C., 2005. Animal landscapes: otters and wildfowl in England 1945-1970 Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 30(2), 191-205
  • KOTTLER, D., WATKINS, C. and LAVERS, C., 2005. The transformation of Sherwood Forest in the Twentieth Century: the role of private estate forestry Rural History. 16(1), 95-110
  • TACHIBANA, S., DANIELS, S. and WATKINS, C., 2004. Japanese gardens in Edwardian Britain: landscape and transculturation Journal of Historical Geography. 30(2), 364-394
  • BALZARETTI, R., PEARCE, M. and WATKINS, C., eds., 2004. Ligurian landscapes: studies in archaeology, geography and history London: Accordia Research Institute.
  • BALZARETTI, R., PEARCE, M. and WATKINS, C., eds., 2004. Ligurian landscapes: studies in archaeology, geography and history London: Accordia Research Institute.
  • BALZARETTI, R., PEARCE, M.J. and WATKINS, C., 2004. Ligurian landscapes: microhistory and environmental history. In: BALZARETTI, R., PEARCE, M.J. and WATKINS, C., eds., Ligurian landscapes: studies in archaeology, geography and history London: Accordia Research Institute. 1-6
  • CHARLES WATKINS, CHRIS LAVERS AND ROBERT HOWARD, 2004. The Use of Dendrochronology to Evaluate Dead Wood Habitats and Management Priorities for the Ancient Oaks of Sherwood Forest. In: O. HONNAY, K. VERHEYEN, B. BOSSUYT AND M. HERMY, ed., Forest Biodiversity: Lessons from History for Conservation CABI Publishing. 247-267
  • PETIT, S. and WATKINS, C., 2004. Pratiques paysannes oubliees. L'etetage et l'emondage des arbres en Grande Bretagne (1600 a 1900) Etudes Rurales. 169-70, 197-214
  • WATKINS, C., 2004. The management history and conservation of terraces in the Val di Vara, Liguria.. In: ROSS BALZARETTI, MARK PEARCE AND CHARLES WATKINS, ed., Ligurian Landscapes: studies in Archaeology, Geography and History 10. Accordia Research Institute, University of London. 141-154
  • MARTIN HOPKINSON, PETER SUCHIN, DEREK HAMPSON and PAUL ELLIOTT, 2004. Derek Hampson's "Loves of the Plants": Reflections on a major mural in Nottingham British Art Journal. 5(3), 80-4
  • FISH, R., SEYMOUR, S. and WATKINS, C., 2003. Conserving English landscapes: land managers and agri-environmental policy Environment and Planning A. 35(1), 19-41
  • CHARLES WATKINS, DAVID MATLESS AND PAUL MERCHANT, 2003. Cultures of Nature: Botany in Herefordshire, England, 1945-1970. In: N WALFORD AND N EVANS, ed., Innovations in Rural Areas Presses Universitaires Blaise Pascal. 11-27
  • WATKINS, C., LAVERS, C. and HOWARD, R., 2003. Veteran tree management and dendrochronology, Birklands and Bilhaugh cSAC, Nottinghamshire English Nature. (489)
  • BAILEY, S. A., HAINES-YOUNG, R. H. and WATKINS, C., 2002. Species presence in fragmented landscapes: modelling of species requirements at the national level Biological Conservation. 108(3), 307-316
  • WATKINS, C., LAVERS, C. and HOWARD, R., 2002. Dendrochronology and Ancient Oak Trees: preliminary results from Sherwood Forest, UK and the Val di Vara, Italy Archeologia Postmedievale. 6, 35-48
  • COOPER, F.M., JONES, M., WILSON, Z. and WATKINS, C., 2002. Geographic distribution and genetic diversity of native black poplar (1857059093)
  • WATKINS, C., WALE, C., HAINES-YOUNG, R. and MURDOCK, A., 2001. Contextualising development pressure: the use of GIS to analyse planning applications in the Sussex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Town Planning Review. 72(4), 373-392
  • FISH, R., SEYMOUR, S. and WATKINS, C., 2001. Coinciding and contested visions: historical relations in the landscape goals of agri-environmental schemes and land managers In: II Anglo-Spanish Symposium on Rural Geography.
  • WATKINS, C., 2001. Drivers of countryside change: Appendix 7 Drivers of forestry change in the 1990s DEFRA.
  • FISH, R., SEYMOUR, S. and WATKINS, C., 2000. Attitudes of farmer and land managers towards features of landscape and historic interest
  • SEYMOUR, S., WATKINS, C. and DANIELS, S.J., 2000. Sir George Cornewall: Management, Improvement and Landscaping 1771-1819. In: PAUL T. HARDING AND TOM WALL, ed., Moccas: an English Deer Park: the history, wildlife and management of the first parkland National Nature Reserve English Nature.
  • TSOUVALIS, J., SEYMOUR, S. and WATKINS, C., 2000. Exploring knowledge-cultures: precision farming, yield mapping, and the expert - farmer interface Environment and Planning A. VOL 32(PART 5), 909-924
  • JUDITH TSOUVALIS AND CHARLES WATKINS, 2000. In: M. AGNOLETTI AND S. ANDERSON, ed., Forest history: international studies on socio-economic and forest ecosystem change CABI Publishing. 371-386
  • WATKINS, C., SHORT, B., KINSMAN, P. and FOOT, W., 2000. The National Farm Survey 1941-3 State surveillance and the countryside in England and Wales in the 2nd World War, CAB International, Oxford.
  • DANIELS, S.J., SEYMOUR, S. and WATKINS, C., 1999. Enlightenment, Improvement and Geographies of Horticulture in late Georgian England. In: D LIVINGSTONE AND C WITHERS, ed., Geography and Enlightenment Chicago University Press. pp 345-371
  • SEYMOUR, S., DANIELS, S. and WATKINS, C., 1998. Estate and empire: Sir George Cornewall's management of Moccas, Herefordshire and La Taste, Grenada, 1771-1819 Journal of Historical Geography. VOL 24(NUMBER 3), 313-351
  • CHARLES WATKINS AND CHRIS LAVERS, 1998. In: M ATHERDEN AND R BUTLIN, ed., Woodland in the landscape: past and future perspectives University of Leeds Press. 140-151
  • CHARLES WATKINS, 1998. In: CHARLES WATKINS, ed., European woods and forests CAB International. 1-10
  • KEITH J KIRBY AND CHARLES WATKINS, ed., 1998. The ecological history of European forests CAB International.
  • WATKINS, C., 1998. 'A solemn and gloomy umbrage': changing interpretations of the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest. In: European woods and forests. Studies in cultural history CAB International, Oxford. 93-114
  • CHARLES WATKINS, ed., 1998. European Woods and Forests: Studies in Cultural History CAB International.
  • BRIAN SHORT AND CHARLES WATKINS, 1998. Prelude to modernity: the National Farm Survey of England and Wales, 1941-3. In: N WALFORD, J EVERITT AND D NAPTON, ed., Reshaping the countryside CAB Publishing. 13-23
  • CHARLES WATKINS AND KEITH J KIRBY, 1998. In: KEITH J KIRBY AND CHARLES WATKINS, ed., The ecological history of European forests 1998. ix-xv
  • S A BAILEY and R. HAINES-YOUNG AND C. WATKINS, 1998. In: KEITH J KIRBY AND CHARLES WATKINS, ed., The ecological history of European forests CAB International. 311-321
  • JUDITH GERBER, LEWIS HOLLOWAY, SUSANNNE SEYMOUR, MIKE STEVEN AND CHARLES WATKINS, 1998. New technologies and old technologies: the impact of 'precision farming' on the management of the English countryside. In: NICOLE CROIX, ed., Environnment et nature dans les campagnes: Nouvelles politiques, nouvelles pratiques? Presses Universitaires de Rennes. 187-204
  • DANIELS, S, SEYMOUR, S and WATKINS, C., 1997. Border Country: the politics of the picturesque in the middle Wye Valley. In: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL, CHRISTIANA PAYNE AND SCOTT WILCOX, ed., Prospects for the Nation: Recent essays in British Landscape 1750-1880 Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut. 157-181
  • HAINES-YOUNG, R. and WATKINS, C., 1996. The rural data infrastructure International Journal of Geographical Information Systems. VOL 10(NUMBER 1), 21-46
  • CHARLES WATKINS, TIM LLOYD AND DANIEL WILLIAMS, 1996. Constraints on farm woodland planting in England: a study of Nottinghamshire farmers. Forestry. 69, 167-176
  • SEYMOUR, S., WATKINS, C. and DANIELS, S.J., 1996. Uvedale Price's marine picturesque at Aberystwyth 1790-1829 The Picturesque. 14, 1-12
  • WATKINS, C., COX, G. and WINTER, M., 1996. Game Management in England. Implications for Access. The Rural Economy and the Environment. Countryside & Community Foundation, Cheltenham, Glos. UK.
  • GRAHAM COX, CHARLES WATKINS AND MICHAEL WINTER, 1996. In: CHARLES WATKINS, ed., Rights of Way: policy, culture and management Pinter. 197-212
  • CHARLES WATKINS, ed., 1996. Rights of way: policy, culture and mangement Pinter. (In Press.)
  • GEORGE REVILL AND CHARLES WATKINS, 1996. Educated access: interpreting forestry commission forest park guides. In: CHARLES WATKINS, ed., Rights of Way: Policy, Culture and Management Pinter Publishers Ltd, London. 100-128
  • DANNATT, N. and WATKINS, C., 1996. Duke of Cornwall's Award for Conservation in Commercial Forestry Quarterly Journal of Forestry. VOL 90(NUMBER 4), 285-289

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