'Biography of German naturalist Amalie Dietrich who spent ten years in northern Queensland assembling a major botanical, zoological and anthropological collection for a private museum in Hamburg, this collection included Aboriginal remains; book attempts to separate the scientist from the fictional heroine; divided into three parts - first deals with Dietrichs early life in Germany and her marriage, second gives an account of her travels in Australia, and the third analyses the relationship between Dietrich and her daughter and the creation of Dietrich as a semi-fictional heroine.' (Publication summary)
'The German naturalist Amalie Dietrich lived and researched in Australia between 1861 and 1873. When Ray Sumner first began her research into the work of Dietrich in the early 1980s, Dietrich's name was not well known in Australia. Sumner became increasingly fascinated by this quite remarkable woman and, following from her doctoral thesis, Amalie Dietrich in Australia (1985), she wrote a series of articles which examined Dietrich's botanical and zoological collections and another on her collection of early photographs of Queensland Aborigines. In a subsequent paper, Sumner focused on Amalie Dietrich's role in both Australian scientific history and in Australian-German relations, coming to the conclusion that, despite her considerable contribution, Dietrich still remained a virtually unknown figure in this country.' (Introduction)
'The German naturalist Amalie Dietrich lived and researched in Australia between 1861 and 1873. When Ray Sumner first began her research into the work of Dietrich in the early 1980s, Dietrich's name was not well known in Australia. Sumner became increasingly fascinated by this quite remarkable woman and, following from her doctoral thesis, Amalie Dietrich in Australia (1985), she wrote a series of articles which examined Dietrich's botanical and zoological collections and another on her collection of early photographs of Queensland Aborigines. In a subsequent paper, Sumner focused on Amalie Dietrich's role in both Australian scientific history and in Australian-German relations, coming to the conclusion that, despite her considerable contribution, Dietrich still remained a virtually unknown figure in this country.' (Introduction)
