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55.05.00aPreferred Citation:
Ferdinand von Mueller to Wilhelm Sonder, 1855-05 [55.05.00a]. 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/1850-9/1855/55-05-00a-final.odt>, accessed May 15, 2026
1
Letter not seen. The text given here is extracted Tkach, Neubauer & Roser (2022), Brief 28, W. Sonder to D. von Schlechtendal, 22 September 1855.
The letter is mostly concerned with the arrangements for publishing the series Plantae Muellerianae in Schlechtendal's journal
Linnaea, complaining about the slowness of contributors to whom Sonder had sent specific
families or groups of families of plants. The letter also includes a comment about M's view of Sonder's own work: 'Dr. Müller
meint, ich könne noch viel rascher arbeiten, aber das verstehe ich nun einmal nicht' [Dr Mueller thinks I could work much faster, but I simply don't understand that].
[In two months a new consignment of plants from Mueller's last journey will arrive,
perhaps there will also be seeds in it. The last letter is from the end of May this
year, when Dr Mueller was completely recovered from his serious illness.
]
2
M left for his 'journey into the Australian alps' on 1 November 1854 (M to J. Foster
31 October 1854) and returned to Melbourne on either 8 or 9 March 1855 (M to F. Krichauff, 9 March 1855; M to W. Haines, 10 March 1855). M mentioned in both these letters that he had had a severe illness, describing it as 'gastrischem Fieber' [gastric fever].