Salomon Müller, and "his" many birds (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Just to be safe, here's a look a the (fairly well-known) collector Salomon Müller (born 1804), mostly active in the (Dutch) East Indies ......

In today's Key we find him as:

muelleri
● Salomon Müller (1804-1864) German explorer, ornithologist (syn. Accipiter griseogularis, subsp. Ficedula dumetoria, Heleia, syn. Mulleripicus pulverulentus, subsp. Oriolus flavocinctus, subsp. Phylloscopus castaniceps, subsp. Pitta sordida, subsp. Rhipidura hyperythra (ex Rhipidura rufiventris Müller)).
● ...

mulleri / mullerii
● ...
● Salomon Müller (1804-1864) German ornithologist, collector (syn. Chloropsis sonnerati, Ducula, subsp. Pitta sordida, syn. Tanygnathus sumatranus).

Also, as such, in the entries for; Muelleria, muelleriana / muellerii, (Muelleripicus) and Mulleripicus.

He's as well commemorated in the (earlier) Swedish Common name "Müllers papegoja", hence my interest/concern [for today's Blue-backed Parrot Tanygnathus sumatranus RAFFLES 1822 (here), in line with its earlier/alternate English name "Müller's Parrot" (which is still used in Aviculture), which was/is due to its junior synonym "Ps. [Psittacus] Mulleri" (Salomon) MÜLLER, ex Temminck (MS) 1841 (here, with half/fly Title page here)]. Today it's called sulawesipapegoja in Swedish [meaning: Sulawesi Parrot].

However, in many sources Salomon Müller is claimed to have passed away in 1864, but in Deutsche Biographie (here), as well as in several other sources, it's claimed that he died in 1863; see (for example/s); here, here, and here (p.92, bottom page), or here, as well as in the German Wikipedia (here) ... and elsewhere.

Thus, I tend to believe he died on the 29th of December, 1863, in Freiburg im Breisgsau (Wikipedia here), in today's Baden-Württemberg (ditto here), in Germany, not the year after (as have been claimed) which I think simply was when his death became known (i. e. shortly thereafter).

Anyone who disagree?

Björn

PS. Also note that we (occasionally) find his Sur-/Family name written differently, in various text ... ?!?

Compare, for example; "S. Muller" here (on p.315, in Dutch, without ü) versus "S. Müller" here (in English), and as ditto here (in German).

/B

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Either way, also see the fairly recent Paper (rich in both details, and illustrations), by Hans J. Jacobs (2022) ...

•Jacobs, H. J. 2022. Salomon Müller – ein unterschätzter deutscher Naturforscher. Sekretär 22, pp. 21–56 (published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde):

Salomon Müller – ein unterschätzter deutscher Naturforscher

Zusammenfassung
SALOMON MÜLLERS (7. April 1804 – 29. Dezember 1863) Leben nahm eine für seine Familie zweifellos überraschende, geradezu romanhafte Wendung, als er – ...
[...]

Summary
SALOMON MÜLLER’s (1804-1863) life took what was undoubtedly a surprising, almost novelistic turn for his family when, not even 20 years old, he met HEINRICH BOIE (1794-1827) and HEINRICH MACKLOT (1799-1832) at his parents’ inn in Heidelberg. This fateful encounter led him to start working as a taxidermist at the Rijksmuseum Leiden a short time later, and as early as 1825 he left for Java with the second group of the natuurkundige commissie, where they arrived in June 1826.

With the prospect of this career, which did not come naturally to him, MÜLLER took private lessons in Latin and also attended seminars in Zoology at Heidelberg University, although he was never officially enrolled. The two future friends BOIE and MACKLOT [*] will have primarily noticed the small zoological collection of stuffed animals in the guest house of his parents. and so it was MÜLLER’s skills as a hunter and taxidermist that got him the job in the second group.

In this function he will also have worked primarily in the first phase of the expedition on Java, although it may be assumed that he eagerly followed the scientific work of the other two. The first and probably decisive break in this development was BOIE’s death in September 1827. Thus the head and scientific leader of the group was no longer present. Despite the by no means complete data situation – many documents will have been lost – it is already evident on the continuation of the voyage of discovery via Ambon (March/April 1828) to New Guinea (end of May to August 1828) how MÜLLER grew into the function of scientist at a literally unbelievable pace. This is documented by his handwritten records preserved in the Museum Naturalis (Leiden) and accessible in the online archive of the natuurkundige commissie. ...
[...]

Samenvatting
het leven van SALOMON MÜLLER’s (1804-1863) nam voor zijn familie ongetwijfeld een verrassende, bijna sprookjesachtige wending toen hij, nog geen ...
[...]

Also note the Photo of his Grave (on p.51), with the Inscription:

Hier ruht / dr. Salomon Müller / langjähriger reisender / Naturforscher / in aller Welt [unleserlich] / geb. den 7. April 1804 / in Heidelberg / gest. den 29. Dezember 1863

Enjoy!

Björn

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*Commemorated in boie/boiei (also shared in boji), resp. mackloti/macklotii. See the Key here (and here), resp. here.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

And, just for the fun of it; the German (name/word) Müller/müller means Miller, the one who runs the mühle (mill), and produces Mehl (flour). In Swedish we say mjölnare for the one who runs a kvarn (or mölla, in Southern Swedish dialects), where mjöl (flour) is produced.

It's very different from the Swedish word muller (meaning rumble, thunder)!

Nor should it be confused with the Swedish word myller (which is how we pronounce Müller). The Swedish word myller means throng (as in a thronged crowd/swarm).

In (strictly) lexicographical contexts/content we Swedes place the name Müller far (further) down the Alphabet (we treat it as if it would have been written "Myller" – in line with its pronunciation), thereby it's placed after any words/names starting with Mu... (also after Mv... or Mx..., if such words would exist, just before Mz...)

 

[l_raty]

Born 7 Apr 1804 (12 pm), baptized 8 Apr 1804, Heidelberg, Baden.
Died 29 Dec 1863 (1 am), buried 31 Dec 1863 (3 pm), Freiburg, Baden. (He was aged 59 years 8 months and 22 days.)

 

[kweetal]

PS. Also note that we (occasionally) find his Sur-/Family name written differently, in various text ... ?!?

Compare, for example; "S. Muller" here (on p.315, in Dutch, without ü) versus "S. Müller" here (in English), and as ditto here (in German).

The Dutch context might be an influence but isn't it also rather common to not use diacritics in upper case text?