Voyage of discovery In an exquisite celebration of artistry and adventure a new book Joseph Banks’ Florilegium marks 250 years since Cook’s first round-the-world expedition

To mark the 250th anniversary of HMS Endeavour’s first voyage to Australia, a new book celebrates Banks’ Florilegium reproducing 181 of the original plates

Setting sail from Plymouth in 1768, with James Cook at the helm, HMS Endeavour’s crew hoped to achieve much in the fields of astronomy, cartography, botany and ethnology. It was also to be Cook’s first round-the-world voyage.

A 24-year-old Joseph Banks, already an experienced and well-regarded botanist, assembled a small team (including artist Sydney Parkinson) to assist him in the collecting and recording of botanical species of interest as Endeavour made landfall in the varied terrains of Madeira, Brazil, Tierra del Fuego, the Society Islands in French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia and Java.

While the voyage’s primary purpose was to observe from Tahiti the rare planetary occurrence of the transit of Venus across the Sun, exploratory forays at each of the stops on their circumnavigation allowed Banks to gather over 1,300 plant species yet to be studied by Europeans.

On his return, Banks commissioned the making of 700 engravings using materials brought back from the voyage. Known collectively as Banks’ Florilegium, these engravings are some of the most precise and exquisite examples of botanical illustration ever created. The collection was never printed during Banks’ lifetime, and it wasn’t until 1990 that a run of full-coloured prints was made from the 18th-century plates. Now, a new book has been published to mark the 250th anniversay of Cook’s first voyage and celebrate the adventure and artistry of Banks’ Florilegium.

Joseph Banks’ Florilegium: Botanical Treasures from Cook’s First Voyage ( Thames & Hudson, £65) with texts by Mel Gooding, David Mabberley and Joe Studholme. Gardens Illustrated readers can receive a 10 per cent discount on the book when they order it from thamesandhudson.com before 31/12/17 using the code JBFGI10 (while stocks last).

CASUARINA EQUISETIFOLIA, BEEFWOOD, 1769 FRENCH POLYNESIA, SOCIETY ISLANDS A PIONEER TREE OF THE COASTS OF THE INDOPACIFIC REGION

STIGMAPHYLLON CILIATUM, ORCHID VINE, 1768 BRAZIL, RIO A RAMPANT CLIMBER FOUND ALONG BEACHES, RIVER AND IN MANGROVES

CLERODENDRUM PANICULATUM, PAGODA FLOWER, 1770 JAVA WIDELY CULTIVATED SHRUB, INTRODUCED INTO ENGLAND IN 1809