ANU Public Lecture 11 December – Joseph Banks’ Florilegium

Joseph Banks’ Florilegium: Botanical Treasures from Cook’s First Voyage
Monday, 11 December 2017, 4-5pm

Speaker: David Mabberley
Location: RN Robertson Theatre, RN Robertson Building #46, 46 Sullivans Creek Rd

Exhibition & Drinks: 5-6pm, Hancock Library, WK Hancock Building #122, Sullivans Ck Rd
This lecture and exhibition is free and open to the public

Joseph Banks accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage round the world from 1768 to 1771, bringing back over 1,300 species that had never been seen or studied by Europeans. On his return, Banks commissioned over 700 superlative engravings between 1772 and 1784. Known collectively as Banks’ Florilegium, they are some of the most precise and exquisite examples of botanical illustration ever created. It was not until 1990 that a complete set in colour was issued in a boxed edition (limited to 100 copies) under the direction of the British Museum (Natural History).

It is from these prints that the present selection is made for a new book, under David Mabberley’s direction. Banks’s Florilegium is not only a great work of science, but also a major achievement of collaborative Enlightenment art. Joseph Banks’ Florilegium is the first time these most precise, exquisite and outstanding botanical illustrations will be available in book form.
The ANU has set of 227 plates of the Florilegium, donated in 1985. Highlights of the collection are now on display in the Hancock Library.