Joseph Banks' Florilegium: Botanical Treasures from Cook?s First Voyage

. About the Author David Mabberley is a botanist, professor, and writer.Mel Gooding is an art historian, writer, curator, and educator.Joe Studholme cofounded Editions Alecto and undertook the printing of Banks’ Florilegium from the original copper plates

David Mabberley is a botanist, professor, and writer.Mel Gooding is an art historian, writer, curator, and educator.Joe Studholme cofounded Editions Alecto and undertook the printing of Banks’ Florilegium from the original copper plates.

The Florilegium was never published in Banks’ lifetime, and it was not until 1990 that a complete set in color was issued in a boxed edition (limited to 100 copies) under the direction of the British Museum. 175+ illustrations in color and black and white. An afterword by Joe Studholme describes the history of the modern printing. Known collectively as Banks’ Florilegium, they are some of the most precise and exquisite examples of botanical illustration ever created. The present selection is from these prints, directed by botanist David Mabberley, who has provided expert commentaries, with additional texts by art historian Mel Gooding, setting the works in context as a perfect conjunction of nature, science, and art. The extraordinary botanical engravings of flora discovered on Captain Cook’s first voyage, published for the first time in book formJoseph Banks accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage arou