The correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller: ¶ [Director forwards two drawings which he requests may be engraved at Govt Printing Office] ¶ This letter was referred to the Government Printer's office on 9 May 1870 minuted: 'can he arrange for t...

Document information

Physical location:

No. 4886, vol. 1870 V, VPRS 1168/P inward correspondence registers, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria. 70.05.07a

Preferred Citation:

Ferdinand von Mueller to James McCulloch, 1870-05-07 [70.05.07a]. 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/1870-9/1870/70-05-07a-final.odt>, accessed June 10, 2026

Letter not found; item is a register entry only, of a letter dated 7 May 1870.

[Director forwards two drawings which he requests may be engraved at Govt Printing Office]

This letter was referred to the Government Printer's office on 9 May 1870 minuted: 'can he arrange for this work'. It was returned to the Chief Secretary's office on 11 May, then forwarded to M on 12 May minuted: 'for his information'.

The drawings were probably two scenes including palms from Lord Howe Island, included in the bound version of vol. 7 of M's Fragmenta, published in 1872 (B72.02.08). The woodcuts were based on sketches by R. Fitzgerald who, with Charles Moore and other naturalists, collected on the Island during a visit at the end of May and early June accompanying a police magistrate sent to investigate a murder (Sydney morning herald, 9 June 1869, p. 5; George (2009)). The fascicle including the relevant text (B70.04.01, pp. 99-104) was issued in April 1870, and M may have hoped to distribute the illustrations with this or soon after. Fitzgerald later reminded M that he had promised to send copies of the woodcuts made from drawings of 'Howes Island' plants (R. Fitzgerald to M, 4 September 1871 (in this edition as 71-09-04a)).