Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage Round the World in HMS “Endeavour” in 1768–71

Abstract

“BETTER late than never” may be said of the book the title of which is given above. It is a curious fact that the scientific results of several of the most important and most costly voyages of discovery, both English and foreign, have either not been published at all, or only in part, and in a fragmentary manner. Cook's first voyage is, perhaps, the most notable example of unfinished works of this kind in the history of British exploration. This is the more to be deplored, because collecting and methodical investigation were carried out on a scale previously unknown, and an immense sum was subsequently expended by Sir Joseph Banks in preparing the botanical results for publication. This is not the place to enter into the causes of the cessation of this part of the work; but it was not the only part that was long belated. It was not till 1893 that Captain Cook's own “Journal” was published, edited by Sir William Wharton; and three years later appeared Banks's “Journal” of that memorable voyage, edited by Sir Joseph Hooker. Although I have said “better late than never,” it is obvious that the illustrations now in course of being issued have been, to some extent, forestalled, and the letterpress is historically interesting, rather than a contribution to science. According to the prospectus the complete work will comprise 800 plates; these will include a series illustrating the botanical collections of Cook's second voyage, when the Forsters, father and son, were the naturalists. Sydney Parkinson was the botanical artist on the first voyage, but he and the two other artists all died on the voyage, and their work was left in an unfinished condition. So much has been written about the plates now being issued and the desirability of their publication, that something superior to what they really are was probably expected by most people. Indeed it is difficult to suppress a feeling of disappointment. Compared with the botanical illustrations of other expeditions of discovery of a little later date, they are hard and unattractive, and floral dissections are almost entirely wanting. They lose, too, in effect, as they are transfers and not direct impressions of the original engravings on copper. The majority of the plates were engraved from drawings by F. P. Nodder, prepared from Parkinson's sketches and the dried specimens, and only the former name appears on the plates. Our remarks on this point, however, should be regarded in the light of explanation rather than criticism, because after all we must not forget that their publication has been delayed more than a century. Of course, it is highly regrettable that they were not published at the time, so that they might have been more fully utilised in the many publications that have appeared during the last century and a quarter on Australasian and Pacific Islands botany. A fact of great importance is that a comparatively small number of the plants here depicted had previously been figured. Mr. Britten has most conscientiously reproduced Solander's descriptions and remarks, even to the extent of palpable errors. Thus the locality Endeavour River is given throughout as Endeavour's River, and “petioli ½-uncialia,” instead of unciales. But perhaps this course is more satisfactory than any attempt at improving the original; and errors of the latter kind may be due to slips of the transcriber. The keenest reader may overlook false terminations in Latin descriptions, and the most ready writer is apt to make them. Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. “Endeavour” in 1768–71. By the Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Dr. Daniel Solander with Determinations by James Britten Part I: Australian Plants. 101 Plates, with descriptive letterpress. (London: Printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum. All Booksellers. 1900.)