Ɛpsilon

From Ferdinand von Mueller to Francis Gibbes   19 Mar 1882

19/3/82

It was my intention, dear Mr Gibbes, to attend yesterday at the opening of the Academy of Arts, to which the Council so kindly invited me;1 but when the hour arrived, I found myself so overwhelmed with official engagements, that I had very reluctantly to deprive myself of the pleasure of sharing in your festival. Indeed I was compelled to work all this day though it is Sunday.

The intercolonial Exhibition2 taxed me for many months with heavy extra engagements, so that my departmental work got into arrear, and it requires thus all my exertions to do justice to my duties now.

Pray, excuse my absense3 at the next Council Meeting & let me remain regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller.

1

The 12th exhibition of the Victorian Academy of Arts was opened by the Governor, Lord Normanby, on Saturday afternoon, 18 March 1882; see Argus, 20 March 1882, p. 10.

2

International Exhibition, Melbourne, 1880-1.

3

i.e. from the opening, M was not a member of the Council.

Please cite as “FVM-82-03-19,” 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/82-03-19