Correspondence between Thomas Kirk and Julius Haast, April 1869. Heaphy's comment and signature on the reverse. AWMM MUS-1995-38-155.
Abstract
In 1859 Ferdinand Hochstetter (1829–1884) donated geological specimens from his work in the Auckland Province to the Auckland Museum. A short letter from Thomas Kirk to Julius Haast in 1869 inquiring about the specimens gives us a clear insight into the perilous state of the fledgling Auckland Museum 17 years after its formation in 1852 and 10 years after Hochstetter had left New Zealand. A background of the events leading up to the letter, its relationship to Hochstetter's time in Auckland, the Hochstetter - Heaphy controversy, early Museum curators and the sad fate of the specimens are discussed.
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Citation
Grenfell, Hugh R. (2023). Hochstetter's missing rocks - the Kirk to Haast letter, 1869 https://doi.org/10.32912/ram.2023.57.3