From Ferdinand von Mueller to the California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences   [July 1875]

[We are Indebted to Prof. Baron Von Meuller,1 the distinguished Botanist of the Royal Garden at Melbourne, Australia,2 for advanced sheets of the valuable Work which he is preparing to accompany the Collection of Australian Plants, Products, and Manufactures which will be made to the Centennial next year, from Australia.3 Professor Von Meuller has done so much to develop that great region, and made so great researches, that we feel confident the Exhibition from that region will be one of great value and of interest to science.4]

sic. M never held a teaching position and did not use the title ’Professor’.

M had not been associated with the Botanic Garden since 30 June 1873, when the Directorship was removed from him. The Garden was not granted the epithet ‘Royal’ until 1958.

The Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876; B75.09.03. The Commissioners responsible for sending the Victorian exhibits awarded M a silver medal for his essay; see Commissioners for Victoria at the Philadelphia Exhibition (1875), p. xxx.

Although some of M’s works were included in the ‘Collection of books printed in Melbourne’ (Commissioners for Victoria at the Philadelphia Exhibition (1876), pp. 110-14), M did not have any natural history exhibits at the Exhibition in Philadelphia; for his acerbic comments about the numerous items exhibited by William Guilfoyle, see M to A. Gray, 25 December 1875.

Letter not found. The text given here is from ‘The Victorian exhibition at Centennial’, California farmer and journal of useful sciences, 2 September 1875, p. 12. The letter is dated to July as the latest that it could have been sent to have been reported in this issue of the newspaper.

Please cite as “FVM-75-07-00,” 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 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/75-07-00