Document information
Physical location:
J76/8599, unit 883, VPRS 3991/P inward registered correspondence, VA 475 Chief Secretary's Department, Public Record Office, Victoria. 76.08.12Preferred Citation:
Ferdinand von Mueller to William Odgers, 1876-08-12. 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/1870-9/1876/76-08-12-final.odt>, accessed June 15, 2026
Melbourne,
12/8/76.
W.H. Odgers Esqr,
Undersecretary.
Sir
I have the honor to enquire, whether the hon. the Chief Secretary will be pleased
to arrange with the hon. the Minister of Mines, that through Mr M'Lellans Department
a small map may be issued, which could be placed against the title-page of my School-Flora.
For this purpose the Mines Department has facilities, which I do not enjoy in my establishment,
and Mr M'Lellan is sure to be willing to aid me thus far.
The map would require to be slightly smaller than the one transmitted herewith;
it would need to be complete up to date; it should be correct in detail (Mt Buller
for instance being placed wrongly on the accompanying map;) but no necessity exists,
to have the names and limits of the counties on it, nor need the map to be colored
1
Map not found.
I have the honor to be,
Sir, your obedient
Ferd. von Mueller.
2
On 15 August 1876 the Chief Secretary, J. MacPherson, minuted: 'Perhaps the Mines
dept will inform me if facilities exist there for the performance of such work and
if it will be undertaken without inconvenience I should have thought the Lands dept
the most appropriate for such work'. The Minister of Mines, W. McLellan, replied on
28 August: 'Enquiries have been made in this matter, and it is considered that the
map should be engraved on copper. The Lands Department employ the only officers who
can undertake such work, and it is suggested that the engraving might be done at the
Lands Office, and that the maps might be subsequently printed by contract.'
On 22 November, on a page of Rough Proof that had been sent to him, MacPherson wrote
to the Government Printer, J. Ferres: 'As a work for the use of our State School children
such a work as this represents would be of little or no value — & from that point
of view it is needless to proceed with it' (K76/13910, unit 883, VPRS 3991, Public
Record Office, Victoria). From the proof, it is evident that the proposed work was
very different in character from the educational text M published a year later, namely
B77.13.07. The work here proposed was never published. M subsequently used the material
that had been typeset in a different work, namely B79.13.08.
On 30 November Odgers noted: 'The C.S. [Chief Secretary] has stopped the printing
of the book'.