Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, botanist : autograph letter, signed, to a lady plant collector, re. an intriguing specimen she has sent him. Melbourne, October 1889.

A$1,350 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Signed

Manuscript in ink, [3] pp., octavo (200 x 125 mm); dated 7 October 1889; although von Mueller addresses his correspondent only as dear Madam , she is Melbourne philanthropist Jane Emma Murphy (see note on provenance below); von Mueller discusses a plant specimen Murphy has sent him (almost certainly from the Mornington area, where she resided), which he is unable to identify; the letter is in fine condition, with some remnants of old hinges at the corners. An unpublished letter from von Mueller to one of his circle of women plant collectors, a significant coterie that included Louisa Atkinson, Annie Walker, Ellis Rowan, and Harriet and Helena Scott. Transcript of the letter: Sendings from a place like yours, dear Madam, are always welcome, but I miss the real gems, minute plants . The plant, of which you found only one specimen, the one with lobed leaves and long narrow (string like) pods is new to me as Australian. It may however be merely an introduced South European weed, as a plant not unlike this grows near the Mediterranean shores. To make sure, what it is, a specimen with ripe seed-vessels needs to be got later in the season. Did you find the plant near a garden? Regardfully, your Ferd. Von Mueller . Sir Ferdinand Jakob Heinrich von Mueller (1825-1896), botanist, was born in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin. He attended the University of Kiel, where he was awarded a Ph.D.. In 1847 he arrived in Adelaide with his sister. After a series of botanical discoveries, Mueller wen

• Binding: Hardcover

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