Yesterday the Transit of Venus across the sun received a lot of attention. Many of us were able to view it on the Internet through the many gadgets we have at our disposal. In 1769, however, James Cook, Joseph Banks and surviving members of the Endeavour crew had to endure many months at sea to watch this event unfold in Tahiti. Observing and documenting the Transit of Venus was one of the expedition’s assignments. They did see it and they did take notes.
This wasn’t their only mission, however. The Endeavour crew was sent out to confirm the presence or absence of a certain land mass in the southern hemisphere (i.e., Australia).
With the current attention focused on the Transit of Venus, I thought it would be a good time to give a little attention to the work of botanist Joseph Banks.
During the Endeavour expedition’s travels to South America, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia, Joseph Banks and his crew collected and described thousands of plants. Specimens were drawn by artist Sydney Parkinson who also applied watercolor to his sketches as a way of recording the colors of each plant.
The hard work of Banks’ team was to be recognized in a florilegium Banks wanted to create. He hired artists and master engravers, but in the end, never published his book. The 743 plates created by his team of artists and engravers were transferred to the British Museum and were not printed until 200 years later.
Today we are able to gain insight into the printing of Banks’ florilegium thanks to The National Museum of Australia. They created Banks’ Florilegium: From Plant to Print, an online gallery featuring nine plates from this historic work. This online gallery is more than a collection of nine colorful thumbnail-sized images. The gallery provides information about the materials behind each plate. Viewers are able to compare each plate to its herbarium specimen, the original sketch by Sydney Parkinson, and the final watercolor painting that was based on Parkinson’s sketch. The information in the interactive gallery is presented thoughtfully and provides an engaging learning experience.
Tour this fascinating exhibit for yourself. Go to Banks’ Florilegium: From Plant to Print.
Related
- Joseph Banks: A Life by Patrick O’Brian
- The 2012 Transit of Venus
ArtPlantae Today 