1743 – 1820

Joseph Banks is credited with introducing the Western world to native Australian flora including his namesake, the Banksia. Aboard Cook's first voyage in H.M.S. Endeavour, Banks' mission was scientific - to discover and record specimens of the earth. Upon returning to England, over 700 of Banks' watercolours were laboriously engraved onto copper plates. Mysteriously, these plates weren't used until two-hundred years later.

In 1980, the British Museum of Natural History brought Banks back to life. Using the original eighteenth century copper plates and a technique called ‘à la poupée’, all 734 studies were printed in editions of 100, and later hand-coloured in fine detail. Art & Collectors is pleased to be able to offer you a selection of these breathtakingly detailed engravings - printed from the original copper plates from the 1770s.

Learn more about Florilegium here.

For a more in-depth biography of the artist, click here.