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Sammlung Perthes Archiv,SPA ARCHPGM328,Forschungsbibliothek Gotha der Universität Erfurt. 75.11.28

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to August Petermann, 1875-11-28. R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora, J.H. Voigt and Monika Wells (eds), Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, <https://vmcp.rbg.vic.gov.au/id/75-11-28>, accessed September 11, 2025

1
MS annotation by Petermann: 'Erh. 26. Januar 1876' [Received 26 January 1876]. For a published version of this letter, see Voigt (1996), pp. 127-8.
Melbourne,
28/11/75
Seit längerer Zeit, edler Freund, habe ich nicht mehr von Ihnen gehört. Lassen Sie mich hoffen, dass Ihre grossen Arbeiten über Erdkunde bei fester Gesundheit glorreich fortschreiten. Von Zeit zu Zeit (fast monatlich) habe ich Ihnen etwas gesandt, aber grosse Ergebnisse haben wir in der Geographie Australien's nicht gehabt in letzterer Zeit. Giles kann in kurzer Zeit in W. Austr. ankommen u. von dort werden Sie vielleicht die ersten Nachrichten über seine Erfolge haben.
Vertraulich sprechend möchte ich sagen, dass General Rawlinson mir nicht einmal für meine grossartige Dedication gedankt hat, wenigstens nicht mit einem directen Brief. Wo sind wohl in Australien noch solche Gebirge zu entdecken als der Alfr. & Marie Range &c, alle von mir dedicirt, obwohl Giles es nicht gern anerkennt trotz dessen dass diese von mir reservirte Ehrenvertheilung ihm nie in den Sinn gekommen wäre.
Auf Ihrem neuen Kartonblatt von Nord-Ost Australien fehlen alle die neuen Züge des Daintree River, Palmer River etc. Ich habe die bezüglichen Documente seiner Zeit gesandt; solche müssen also wohl verloren sein. Es liesse sich wohl vor Beendigung der neuen Ausgabe Ihrer grossen General-Karte das nöthige zufügen.
Hr Dr Wagner sende ich mit dieser Post auch wieder etwas für den Gotha Almanach. Ich höre nie von ihm mehr.
Stets Ihr
Ferd. von Mueller.
Sie werden gewiss zugestehen, dass die Entdeckungen Giles schon bisher viel wichtiger sind als die von Warburton, Gosse, u. Forrest, obschon alle hohe Anerkennung verdienen.
Melbourne,
28 November 1875
I have not heard from you, noble friend, for quite some time. Let us hope that your great labours for geography are progressing gloriously and find you in the best of health. From time to time (almost monthly)
2
No earlier letters for 1875 have been found.
I have sent you something, but in recent times we have not had any great results in Australian geography. Giles could arrive shortly in Western Australia, and from there you will perhaps have the first news about his successes.
Speaking in confidence, I should like to mention that General Rawlinson has not even thanked me for my magnificent dedication, at least not directly in a personal letter. Where else in Australia can such mountain ranges still be discovered like the Alfred and Marie Range etc., all dedications from me although Giles does not like to acknowledge this, even though this distribution of honours reserved by me would never have entered his head.
3
M had arranged for Ernest Giles to name the Rawlinson Range, WA, in honour of the President of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Henry Rawlinson. It was named on 31 January 1874 (E. Giles (1875), p. 153). However, M's connection is not mentioned in this case, in contrast to the naming of features after Krichauff (p. 16), Rudall (p. 18), Ehrenberg (p. 34), Mt Olga and Lake Amadeus (pp. 52-3), the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, i.e. the Alfred and Marie Range 'especially in commemoration of their recent marriage' (pp. 189-90), the Schwerin Mural Crescent and Vladimir Pass 'in honour of Prince Vladimir, son of the Emperor of Russia, lately married to the Princess of Schwerin' (p. 200), and less directly Petermann's Range after the 'celebrated geographer' (p. 172), acknowledged earlier as the producer of the 'very best maps' of Australia 'whose data have been mainly furnished by the Baron von Mueller' (p. 50).
On your new cardboard map of north-eastern Australia all the new features of the Daintree River, Palmer River, etc. are missing. I did send you the documents about this at the time; it seems they must have been lost.
4
'Cardboard map' not found, but see M to A. Petermann, December 1875 (in this edition as 75-12-00). Willam Hann had led an expedition that opened the Palmer River goldfield (see Hann (1873)), while George Dalrymple had led an expedition north of Cardwell, Qld, in 1873 and reached and named the Daintree River (see Dalrymple (1874)).
It should be possible to make the necessary additions before the completion of your new edition of your large general map.
5
The 1875 edition of Petermann's large, 9-sheet map of Australia included the Palmer River, but not the Daintree River; see https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232625532/view (accessed 16 August 2018).
I am also sending again something for Dr Wagner for the Gotha Almanac.
6
Hermann Wagner. The Almanach de Gotha was a general reference work published by Justus Perthes, as was Petermann's journal.
I never hear from him any more.
Always your
Ferd. von Mueller.
Surely you must admit that Giles's discoveries so far are already far more important than those of Warburton, Gosse and Forrest,
7
Peter Warburton, William Gosse, John Forrest.
although they all deserve high commendations.