THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Series Two: The Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820

Part 1: Correspondence and Papers relating to
Voyages of Discovery, 1740-1805, from the British Library, London

Sir Joseph Banks was a dominant figure in the growth of scientific inquiry, the upsurge of geographical exploration and the application of the ideas of science to agriculture and industry in the period 1766-1820. Born in February 1743, Banks inherited considerable wealth and large estates and could easily have settled into the life of a country squire. His life was transformed by two voyages. The first as a pioneer naturalist aboard the HMS Niger as it charted and explored the coast of Newfoundland in 1766. The second as Scientific Leader on Captain Cook's epic first voyage around the world on HMS Endeavour (1768-1771).

The first voyage was merely an appetiser for what was to come. It confirmed that Banks enjoyed ship board life and that there was an abundance of work to do for an aspiring naturalist on such a voyage. The second voyage, admittedly a hazardous undertaking, offered the chosen naturalist a place in history as the first European to systematically explore and record the ecosystems of Antarctica, Australasia and Polynesia.

Organised by the Royal Society to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti, the Endeavour voyage further increased knowledge about the Pacific and Antarctic regions and was celebrated for the exploration of the two islands of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. Banks also achieved celebrity by amassing remarkable botanical, zoological and etymological specimens which, together with the fine artistic sketches and detailed charts, aroused great interest in the Pacific region and served as a pioneer example for future scientific expeditions.

After the Endeavour voyage Banks could have continued a career as a naturalist/explorer, or could have retired to catalogue his collections and write up his account of the voyage. Instead - and this is why he is such an interesting figure to historians of science - he chose to employ his fame, knowledge, wealth and contacts to become a sponsor, catalyst and organiser. He sponsored numerous voyages around the world; he pioneered economic botany and the translocation of plants; he encouraged the settlement of Australia; he played a major role in improving British sheep stocks; he pioneered new agricultural methods and encouraged geological analysis; and he sought to derive practical benefits from science.

As Johnson noted, Banks was eminently clubbable. He developed a circle of friendship that encompassed George III, Matthew Boulton, Benjamin Franklin, Friedrich Humboldt, Antoine Lavoisier, Thomas Raffles, Alessandro Volta, James Watt, Arthur Young and Carl Graf von Zeppelin. He maintained these friendships through wars and revolutions bringing accusations from all sides that he was a spy. He thought that science and learning were above such political considerations. Instead, he wished to derive maximum benefit from bringing together the ideas of botanists, chemists, economists, industrialists, inventors, mathematicians, natural historians and physicists.

A list of his achievements is daunting:

- He was elected President of the Royal Society in 1778, further widening his circle of contacts. He remained in office until 1820, assiduously attending meetings for 42 years and actively directing its operations and patronage.

- He was the unofficial Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (1773-1820) and sponsored the acquisition of specimens for the herbarium and gardens.

- He was also a central figure in founding The Linnean Society of London (1788), The African Association (1788), the Board of Agriculture (1793), The Royal Institution (1799) and the Royal Horticultural Society (1804).

- He proposed the settlement of Australia (in 1779 and 1783) and advised on the logistical support required for the first fleet which founded the colony in Sydney in 1788. He also played a key role in the introduction of sheep, wheat and viticulture to Australia and sponsored both the circumnavigation of Australia by Flinders and the exploration of the interior by Blaxland and others.

- He was an important innovator in agriculture, working with his neighbour Arthur Young, to test drainage schemes and methods of cultivation. He was also closely involved in the planning of undercover raids to steal merino sheep from Spain and thus to improve British livestock strains. He averted a wheat crisis and encouraged the use of stratigraphical geology as an aid to land management and mining.

- He was chief patron to William Herschel, discoverer of Uranus, and was a prime mover behind the Baseline survey - the foundation of modern cartography.

- He discovered and described many new plants and animals and encouraged the profitable translocation of foodplants (recommending the growth of tea and cotton in India and sponsoring the ill-fated breadfruit voyage of HMS Bounty).

- He gathered a great herbarium and library, had it catalogued, and opened it to scholars from around the world.

- He was a member of the Society of Dilletanti (from 1774) and Dr Johnson's Club (from 1778), which introduced him to Boswell, Burke, Fox, Garrick, Goldsmith, Malone, Reynolds and Adam Smith. He was also a member of the Lunar Society which brought him in contact with Boulton, Watt, Wedgwood and other entrepreneurs and inventors.

- He was an active Privy Councillor (1797-1820), holding regular discussions with William Pitt and was one of the only people allowed to speak with King George III during his madness.

Banks also acted as a sponsor and consultant for many of the voyages of discovery which followed the Endeavour, including:

- Cook's second voyage with HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure (1772-1775)
- Cook's third and final voyage with HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery (1776-1780)
- John Ledyard's expedition through Northern Europe and Russia (1785)
- the two breadfruit voyages of William Bligh on HMS Bounty (1787-1793)
- George Vancouver's survey voyage to the West Coast of America (1791-1794)
- Macartney's embassy to China (1792-1794)
- Mungo Park's expedition to Sumatra (1792-1793)
- Matthew Flinder's coastal survey of Australia aboard HMS Investigator and Resistance (1795-1802);
- Mungo Park's exploration of the Niger (1795-1805)
- the arctic explorations of Phipps, Scoresby, Ross and parry (1773-1820)
- the Middle Eastern expedition of Johann Burckhardt (1809-1815)

Parts 1-3 of this collection are drawn from the holdings of the British Library, London, and document all aspects of his life and interests. Part 1 covers the largest single collection of his correspondence, organised into 18 volumes (British Library Additional Mss 8094-8100; 8967-8968; 33977-33982; and 32439-32441).

The correspondence touches upon affairs of state, technological advances, trade and industry, arts and letters, the management of his estates, voyages of discovery and the running of the institutions with which Banks was connected.

Leading correspondents include Henry Adington, Charles Babbage, Matthew Boulton, Pierre Broussonet, James Cook, Matthew Flinders, Benjamin Franklin, George III, Edward Gibbon, William Herschel, William Hooker, F A Humboldt, John Hunter, Edward Jenner, Samuel Johnson, Jean Lamarck, Antoine Lavoisier, Edmond Malone, William Marsden, Archibald Menzies, Mungo Park, Thomas Pennant, William Pitt, Joseph Priestley, Thomas Raffles, Pierre Joseph Redoute, John Rennie, William Roscoe, Lady Hester Stanhope, Carl Peter Thurnberg, Alessandro Volta, Horace Walpole, James Watt, William Wilberforce, John Wilkes, Philip Yorke - 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, Arthur Young and Carl Graf von Zeppelin.

Three volumes are devoted to his correspondence with Robert Brown, botanist, who accompanied Flinders on the Investigator and became Banks' librarian on the death of Jacob Dryander. Brown was also President of the Linnean Society, 1849-1853.

A further 43 manuscript volumes document voyages of discovery (British Library Additional Mss 7085, 8945-8947, 8951-8953, 8955, 8959, 9345, 11803, 15331, 15499-15500, 15507, 15513-15514, 15743, 15855, 17542-17552, 21593, 23920-23921, 27855-27890, 27955-27956 and 32439).

In addition to covering voyages that Banks participated in or sponsored, we have taken the opportunity of including log-books and records of other important voyages of this period. Those covered include: Tasman's Journal of a voyage to the South Seas (1642-1644) in an original Dutch version and as translated for Banks; Anson's great round the world voyage in HMS Centurion (1740-1744); Wallis' voyage to the South seas on HMS Dolphin (1766-1768); Cook's first circumnavigation with Banks in HMS Endeavour (1768-1771); Cook's second voyage with HMS Resolution and HMS Adventure (1772-1775); Cook's third and final voyage with HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery (1776-1780); George Vancouver's survey voyage to the West Coast of America (1791-1794); and Matthew Flinder's coastal survey of Australia aboard HMS Investigator and Resistance (1798-1799).