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From Ferdinand von Mueller to Thomas Wilson   18 Mar 1889

Melbourne,

18 March 1889.

T. R. Wilson Esqr,

Undersecretary

Sir

I have the honor to inform you, that Mr Jaffe, the second German Commissioner at the Centennial Exhibition,1 begged on his departure, that a collection of such Australian timbers be sent to him, as would be of mercantile value at a large scale and therefore form subsequent articles of commerce and export to the Continent of Europe. As I have not lying bye in the Department samples of such size, as would be serve the purpose, which Herr Jaffé had in view, namely to locate the samples for display in the industrial Museum of Berlin, I beg to ask whether the hon. the Chief Secretary will kindly allow me, to spend from departmental fund a sum not exceeding ten £ for procuring and shipping the desired samples on behalf of the Government.2

I have the honor to be,

Sir, your obed. servant

Ferd von Mueller,

Gov. Botanist

1

Centennial Exhibition, Melbourne, 1888-9.

2

M's request was approved by the Chief Secretary, A. Deakin, on 21 March 1889, and H. Moors, for T. Wilson, forwarded the news to M the next day. M replied 'with best thanks' on 23 March.

Please cite as “FVM-89-03-18a,” 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/89-03-18a