Melbourne bot Garden
15/11/67.
It gave me great pleasure, dear Dr Hooker, to receive the 3 part of the first vol. of the genera plantarum,1 in which such a wonderful amount of research is brought together and which will be such a boon to all phytographers for all times. You can understand that the work, accumulated in my department during my absense and the additional engagements for Prince Alfreds reception leave me no leisure.2 Thus I have only hastily glanced over this highly important publication and give you only a very few supplementary notes. What a pity, that Bentham gives us not at once the Compositae!3 4
Compositae
Bentham & Hooker (1862-83). The part was published September 1867 (TL2).
M had been recuperating at Queenscliff, Vic and in WA from late July to 14 November 1867, but with just over two weeks on duty in Melbourne from 8 August 1867. Prince Alfred was in Victoria from 23 November 1867 until 4 January 1868. M received him at the Botanic Garden, where two trees with names relevant to the Prince were planted (Saxegothaea conspicua and Abies albertiana). M also attended the levee at the Exhibition Building on 26 November, where he was included in the ‘general presentation’ of the ‘indiscriminate array of Victorian gentlemen’ (Knight [1868], p. 57), was among the 2,500 guests at the ball on 27 November, and went to the fancy dress ball on 23 December as a ‘German cavalier’ (p. 165). He was a participant in the ‘German torchlight procession’ on 29 November and one of ten in the ‘deputation’ that presented an address to the Duke on the steps of the Town Hall at the conclusion of the civic banquet (p. 111). He also attended the ball on 22 February 1868 when the Prince made a second, more informal visit to the colony (p. 223), but appears not to have attended the second fancy dress ball, to which there was doubt whether ‘His Royal Highness would extend his patronage’ (p. 235).
The Compositae were included in vol. 2, part 1 of Bentham & Hooker (1862-83), published in April 1873.
The letter ends without valediction toward the bottom of p. 2 of a 4-page folio. The ‘supplementary notes’ have not been identified.
Please cite as “FVM-67-11-15,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on