Ferdinand von Mueller

1

Undated letter. The earliest possible date for the letter is after the arrival of the London mail in Melbourne per Bangalore on 16 December 1872 (Argus, 16 December 1872, p 5, col. a), since this is the earliest plausible mail that could have included the author's presentation copy of Darwin (1872) sent to M (Burkhardt et al. (1985- ), vol. 20, p. 660); that mail is also likely to have included the 26 October 1872 issue of the Gardeners' chronicle that announced that Lady Hooker had died on 16 October (p. 1427).

Allow me, dear Dr Hooker, to express my deep condolence at the sad event, which deprived you of the wordly

2

worldly? The word is interlined.

possession of your venerable mother. How proud she must have been for many a year to see you maintain the glorious fame of your father, altho' at the last days of her life that joy must have been mingled with sadness, while she witnessed the unworthy persecution to which you have been subjected.

3

See notes to M to J. Hooker, 7 September 1872, and MacLeod (1974) for Hooker's disputes with Acton Ayrton.

I got Darwin's work reviewed in two papers by a friend; as in my still continuing "struggle for existence" I had no leisure to do it myself, much as I wished it.

4

An anonymous review of Darwin (1872) appeared in two parts in the Argus, 23 January 1873, p. 6 col. c, and 25 January 1873, p. S1, col. a, and was reprinted in the Australasian (Melbourne), 1 February 1873, p. 136. It is probable that the reviewer used M's presentation copy of Darwin (1872), since booksellers' stock did not arrive until late January 1873 (advertisements by G. Robertson and by S. Mullen, Argus, 21 January 1873, p S2).

Darwin might with a few words to his neighbour Edward Wilson disarm the cruel and ignorant yet crushing persecution which I have to endure from the Australasian & Argus, which blights all my hopes of life destroys all my work, deprives me of my time and piece

5

sic.

of mind [and is sure]

6

Text obscured by binding.

to worry me pre-maturely into the grave

I am almost ashamed to deprive you of your Xenia. I never expected such a generosity.

7

Letter ends at bottom of sheet without salutation; part of the letter may be missing. However, 'I am … generosity' is a marginal note, which suggests that no more was written.

Hooker had sent M his copy of the first volume of Reichenbach (1858-1900) and continued to send parts as they were issued (see M to G. Bentham, 23 March 1873); see M to J. Hooker, 12 August 1872 (in this edition as 72-08-12a), J. Hooker to M, 20 November 1872, and M to J. Hooker, 25 March 1873.