Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Zoology and botany of New Holland and the isles adjacent

Zoology and botany of New Holland and the isles adjacent

1794
Bound volume
London: Printed by J. Davis: published by J. Sowerby, [1794]
Bequest of Sir William Dixson, 1952
Q79/59

This volume contains a rare copy of A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland and the equally rare Zoology of New Holland – each the first book published on its subject: Australian plants and animals respectively. Both publications feature hand-coloured engravings by the acclaimed naturalist and illustrator James Sowerby. Over his career, Sowerby produced many thousands scientific illustrations but is particularly renowned for his use of colour. He also developed a theory of colour, which reworked Isaac Newton’s idea of seven primary colours to propose three basic colours – red, yellow and blue – from which all other colours could be rendered.

The two original books were bound together in this special volume by Sir William Dixson. Featuring dark blue stained calfskin, marbled sides and matching endpapers, the volume reflects the great care Dixson took in selecting and treating the special items in his collection.

Strange and new

The earliest-known published image of an Australian plant appeared in William Dampier’s 1703 book, Journal of a Voyage to New-Holland. From these first crude engravings, the public’s desire for information and pictures about the strange, new flora inspired a blossoming of published works, and highly skilled artists and engravers were employed to produce images that were eagerly purchased by the middle and upper classes.

James Smith was one of the first botanists to work on the plant material sent back to England from the new colony. Smith produced the first significant scientific publication of Australian plants, A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland, in 1793. The beautiful hand-coloured illustrations were the work of botanical artist James Sowerby. Sowerby was a natural historian, artist and engraver and was responsible for thousands of scientific illustrations in many publications. His floral plates are renowned for their simplicity and botanical accuracy. He had a lifelong interest in colour and this is reflected in the quality of the hand-colouring in his plates.

The animals encountered by the colonists were equally fascinating, and specimens of the strange creatures were sent to Sir Joseph Banks and other zoologists in England. In 1794 George Shaw published the first book on Australian fauna, which included descriptions with scientific names of  animals such as the platypus, echidna, wombat, budgerigar and black snake.