Ferdinand von Mueller

South-Yarra,

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Melbourne.

19/1/95.

Ch. Topp Esqr, M.A., L.LB, F.LS.,

Under Secretary

Sir.

I have the honor to report, that the supply of the 8th Edition of the "Select plants for industrial culture"

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B91.09.01.

is by sale so far exhausted, at the Gov. Printing Office as to need early commencement of printing of the nineth Edition,

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B95.08.04.

for which during the last four years I have written such additional notes, as my studies and correspondence afforded for bringing this now widely known and used work up to recent date. Therefore I now beg to seek the permission of the hon. the Chief Secretary for the issue of the new enlarged edition for which the impressions might be limited to one thousand, unless the Agriculture-Department and perhaps also the Education-Department will avail themselves of the facility of getting a separate supply rolled off, while the successive sheets are in type and thus the cost of the additional copies would be most trifling.

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On 21 January 1895 Topp sent a minute to the Chief Secretary, A. Peacock: 'Ask Govt Printer for the estimated cost of one Edition of a 1000. Also of the cost of the last edition — the number issued — the number given away & the amount derived from sales'. Peacock approved of this the next day and on 23 January Topp sent a memorandum with these questions to R. Brain, the Government Printer. Brain replied on 4 February saying that the estimated cost of an edition of 1000 was £234; that the last edition had not been printed by this office; that the number issued to 28 December 1895 was 74 sent to various Departments, 64 presentations and 633 sold. That totalled 771 and 229 were 'on hand'; and that so far £121.6.8 had been 'derived from Sales'.

On 22 February 1895, Peacock minuted his approval on the file, and on the same day, Topp asked M 'to submit a requisition in the usual form'. The requisition number, B1640, is also noted on the file.

See also M to C. Topp, 26 February 1895 (in this edition as 95-02-26a).