The von Mueller Correspondence Project (VMCP) makes available to the public the majority of the surviving correspondence of Baron Ferdinand von Mueller. Mueller was Victoria’s first Government Botanist and the first Director of the Melbourne Botanic Garden.
Mueller’s correspondence is believed to have included over 100,000 letters. The VMCP team has located over 15,000 of these letters, with new items continuing to emerge. These documents have been digitally transcribed, translated into English where written in other languages, annotated and indexed so that they can be searched.
These documents are of particular interest to botanists, historians, and sociologists, providing insights into many different aspects of Australian life in the second half of the 19th century, particularly:
- botany and botanical history
- the role of expertise in government service
- exploration
- social and economic history
- science beyond the metropolis
- science and empire