Author: von Mueller, Ferdinand.

Publisher: John Ferres, Government Printer, Melbourne.

Format: Foolscap folio with paper wrappers, string tied, lipped lithographic map with staggered folds attached, 21pp, 34.6 x 21.5cm; map 57.3 x 63cm.

Text continues “1869 Victoria. Presented to both houses of Parliament by His Excellency’s command. No. 21.”

Map text includes “Plan of the Government House Reserve Botanic Garden and its Domain indicating the principal plantations. Drawn under the direction of Dr F. v. Mueller by E.B. Heyne. Lithographed at Geological Litho. Branch, Government Printing Office Melbourne by Geo. Newell.”
The map includes an index of “eminently valuable, conspicuous or rare plants.”

Ferdinand von Mueller (German/Australian, 1825–1896) was appointed government botanist for Victoria by Governor Charles La Trobe in 1853, and served as director of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne from 1857 to 1873. This report provides insight into the planning and establishment of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne in such detail and forethought as “Weeping Willows…will thus guard against accidents, embellish the river, consolidate the banks, afford more shade, shelter the Garden against the piercing westerly winds, and replace permanently the fences, apt to be carried away by the floods” (p3).

Mueller’s dedication to establishing the gardens in this early period “to mitigate the heat of our summer clime” (p4), became his downfall, as Victorians called for ornamentation such as statues and fountains in the gardens, a call Mueller resisted: “Works of art we can call forth at pleasure, while time lost in forming the plantations cannot be regained” (p5). By 1873 he was replaced by W.R. Guilfoyle.

Mueller was an accomplished academic and botanist. He established the National Herbarium of Victoria, and “was responsible for exporting eucalyptus seeds to California, India, Algeria, Hong Kong and elsewhere, advocating their planting as a measure to combat malaria.” Ref: ADB.

Foxing to cover, creases to edges, small tear to lip of map.