The Botanical results from Cook's first voyage including material included in Banks' Florilegium.

Introduction.

James Cook's first voyage was notable for the botanical information it gathered. This was the work of Daniel Solander and Joseph Banks, who collected and described hundreds of specimens. Most of the specimens were new to Europeans and Solander was able classify them according to the principles recently set down by his teacher, Linnaeus. The specimens mostly ended up in the Natural History Museum in London.

Banks had also arranged for artists to travel with the voyage. Foremost among them was Sydney Parkinson, who sadly died before the end of the expedition. Before then he had drawn sketches and paintings of hundreds of specimens. Many of his preparatory drawings were finished by other artists back in Britain. Joseph Banks then had engravings made of hundreds of the botanical paintings for a Florilegium but they were never published in his lifetime. Alecto Editions finally completed the process in the late twentieth century.

The following is a listing of Parkinson's botanical drawings and paintings. Images are available online from the Natural History Museum Picture Library (NHM) and from Alecto Historical Edition's website for Banks' Florilegium (BF). They are grouped by geographical location and then follow numbering systems from the Museum and the Florilegium. While most have been reproduced on both sites, some have only been reproduced on one.It is hoped to eventually provides links to all of the images online.

In the meantime, please click on Natural History Museum Picture Library to search for images from the NHM. Then use Parkinson and/or the geographical location as search terms. Alternatively please click on the Alecto Historical Editions website for Banks' Florilegium images. On their website the images are grouped by location and with the numbering used in the final publication.

The first table shows the order of the plates in the Banks' Florilegium. They are organised in alphabetical order of the location rather than following the route of the Endeavour.

Parts Location No. Plates Plate nos.
1-15 Australia 337 1-337
16 Brazil 23 338-360
17-18 Java 30 361-390
19 Madeira 11 391-401
20-27 New Zealand 183 402-584
28-31 The Society Islands 89 585-673
32-34 Tierra del Fuego 65 674-738
  Supplementary 5 739-743

The second table reorganises the plates into a sequence matching the route of the Endeavour. This order has been used for the listings reproduced on these pages.

Parts Location No. Plates Plate nos.
19 Madeira 11 391-401
16 Brazil 23 338-360
32-34 Tierra del Fuego 65 674-738
28-31 The Society Islands 89 585-673
20-27 New Zealand 183 402-584
1-15 Australia 337 1-337
17-18 Java 30 361-390
  Supplementary 5 739-743

The list of botanical images has been divided up as follows:

Part One: Madeira, Brazil and Tierra del Fuego.
Part Two: Society Islands and New Zealand.
Part Three: Australia and Java.

Return to Captain Cook Encyclopaedia