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Banks' Florilegium Part I, Australia, plates 1 - 22

Publisher Alecto Historical Editions

Date1980

Object number00032518

NameFact sheet

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 737 x 573 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Dr and Mrs Eric and Margaret Schiller

Terms

DescriptionA publication information page for 'Banks' Florilegium', part I, Australia, plates 1-22. Published by Alecto Historical Editions and the British Museum (Natural History), 1980. The page outlines details concerning the practical aspects of the publication. Listed under Engravings are plates, paper, stamps, Master Printer, proofing editor, printers and method. Listed under Text are botany, typography and typeface. Lastly, are the details of the Presentation with the mount type and Solander cases listed. HistoryOne of the greatest achievements of the voyage of HMB ENDEAVOUR (1768-1771) was the extensive collection of botanical specimens that had been assembled by Joseph Banks. Gathered on shore expeditions, after returning to ship they were drawn quickly by the artist Sydney Parkinson, and scientifically classified by Banks. While the specimens survived shipwreck at Endeavour Reef, Parkinson died in Batavia. Banks's intention had been to publish the botanical results of the voyage but after only a few plates were engraved, he seems to have realised the scale of the undertaking and it came to a halt. Only in our own era was a decision made to bring the project to fruition, and in one of the great feats of publishing, Alecto Editions issued the entire Florilegium in a limited number of parts in the 1980's. The Australian National Museum holds the Australian component of the collection, consisting of 337 prints in fifteen folios. Here are the results of Banks's collecting on the east coast of the continent, particularly at Botany Bay and Endeavour River where the expedition woudl spend the most time as repairs to the vessel were carried out . Joseph Banks and his party gathered 30,300 specimens of plants representing 3607 species, 1400 of which were then unknown to science.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.