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Banks' Florilegium Prospectus

Publisher Alecto Historical Editions

Date1980

Object number00032516

NameProspectus

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 320 x 244 mm, 2 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Dr and Mrs E Schiller

Terms

DescriptionThe prospectus for 'Banks' Florilegium'. The booklet features a title page reading "Banks' Florilegium to be published by Alecto Historical Editions in association with the British Museum (Natural History) commencing MCMLXXX". Page one details the Publication, page two is headed "The Origin of Banks' Florilegium" and the following pages provide historical information about the drawings and engravings. Back page lists the "Specifications" of the printing edition. History"'Banks' Florilegium' is published now in the firm belief that from the combined points of view of science, history and the art of botanical engraving there is no satisfactory substitute for a comprehensive printing from the original plates. The historical interest and aesthetic quality of these engravings speak for themselves. From the scientific point of view the engravings are highly relevant to correct application of a number of botanical names. They have an advantage of depicting series in a living state. These specie were later named and described, often inadequately, from the dried specimens. 'Banks' Florilegium' will facilitate comparisons between the earliest graphic descriptions and subsequent written descriptions. 'Banks Florilegium' will be published in thirty-four parts and the intended order is as follows: I - XV Australia 337 Plates XVI Brazil 23 Plates XVII - XVIII Java 30 Plates XIX Madeira 11 Plates XX - XXVII New Zealand 183 Plates XXVIII - XXXI The Society Islands 89 Plates XXXII - XXXIV Tierra del Fuego 65 Plates The Publishers will follow the divisions already established by the Botany Library in the British Museum (Natural History) where the collection is arranged geographically into eighteen volumes. These volumes contain Parkinson's original sketches alongside the finished watercolours drawings, the black and white proofs of the engravings taken in the eighteenth century and, in the case of most but not all of the Australian plants, the photolithographic reproductions from 'Illustrations of Australian Plants collected in 1770' by James Britten. Banks is recorded as having bequeathed seven hundred and forty-three plants to the British Museum in 1820. A recent count ascertained that seven hundred and thirty-eight plates survive intact. The present publication will, for the first time, be pointed in colour 'a la poupee'. The Publishers decided to use this technique (developed by the Dutchman Johanne Tayler at the end of the seventeenth century) after experiments demonstrated that it produces the most satisfying overall result scientifically and aesthetically. It achieves the best balance between the need to be accurate in terms of the original water-colours and the need to show the beauty of the engraved lines including their effects of tonal subtlety. The printing of 'Banks Florilegium' is expected to take about six years. The Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History) have undertaken not to allow any new printing from the plates for a period of fifty years from the publication of this first edition. " SignificanceThese historic plates, bequeathed by Sir Joseph Banks to the British Museum, are exceptionally fine examples of the engraver's art and depict some of the first plants to engage the scientific attention of European voyagers in the Pacific Ocean, including the very first plants of New Zealand and Eastern Australia ever to be gathered and studied by Europeans.