Document information

Physical location:

52.00.00

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to Wilhelm Sonder, 1852. 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//letters/1850-9/1852/52-00-00-final.odt>, accessed May 10, 2026

1
Letter not seen. For the text given here, see W. Sonder to D. von Schlechtendal, 27 April 1853, published in Tkach, Neubauer & Roser (2022), Brief 15. M's letter is dated to late 1852 on the basis of Sonder's saying that M had written 'some time ago'. Sonder had already reported a similar but less specific request, several weeks earlier, probably in an earlier letter from M: 'Mueller wrote to me recently that I should have him reprints sent to him soon, as he hoped to find support with the government by them'; see Sonder to Schlechtendal, 11 March 1853, in Tkach, Neubauer & Roser (2022), Brief 14.
[Vor einiger Zeit schrieb mir Herr Dr. F. Müller, es würde ihm von Nutzen sein, wenn er von der Enumeratio seiner Pflanzen ungefähr 20 Exemplare zu vertheilen habe, ich möge Sie doch ersuchen, im Ganzen 25 Abdrucke anfertigen zu lassen, was er dafür zu bezahlen habe, werde er gerne entrichten.]
[Some time ago, Dr. F. Mueller wrote to me that it would be of use to him if he had about 20 copies of the enumeration of his plants to distribute, and that I should ask you to have 25 reprints made in total, for which he would be happy to pay.]
2
Sonder added: 'I execute this task in the hope that it will not be too late'. He also reported that he had just sent 'several boxes of goods' to M, and that 'The shipment of Dr. Mueller from Melbourne, which arrived last week, has again brought wonderful things, 4 or 5 new Panax species, many mosses and ferns, Compositae, and Proteaceae, from which I see an astonishing agreement of the vegetation with that of Van Diemen's Land'.
M's request did indeed arrive too late. In W. Sonder to D. von Schlechtendal, 1 July 1853, Sonder wrote: 'Mueller has, of course, written to me too late that he would like to have so many copies, but he is again innocent in so far as his letter has been on the way for an unusually long time. Mueller thinks he has to send reprints to half the world, he is labouring a little on vanity but I don't say anything against that since he does put together something of value.'