[How About This Book] Natural History Painters, Recording the Unknown World

Former Curator at the London Natural History Museum
Author Carefully Selects Museum Collection Works

17th-20th Century New World Visiting Painters
Skilled Techniques Recording Fascinating Flora and Fauna

"Even when trying to draw fish, chasing away flies was more work than the drawing itself."

British botanist Joseph Banks (1743?1820) faced difficulties with swarms of flies on Tahiti Island in 1769. The artist he brought along, Sydney Parkinson (1745?1771), had to draw newly discovered plants and fish, but the overwhelming flies made the work challenging. Banks was exploring the Pacific aboard the Endeavour, led by Captain James Cook (1728?1779), believing it would aid his botanical research.

In April 1769, the Endeavour expedition carrying British botanist Joseph Banks arrived at Tahiti Island. Natural history painter Sydney Parkinson painted a king mackerel on Tahiti Island. Tahiti Island was rich in marine life worthy of being painted by the artists of the Endeavour. Among a total of 148 fish paintings, 66 depicted species found on Tahiti Island. Photo by Geulhangari, (c) Natural History Museum, London, UK

Voyages of Discovery tells the story of explorers who ventured to the New World, Africa, and Australia from the 17th to the 20th centuries, and the painters they always brought along. These painters were skilled technicians who recorded the fascinating flora and fauna they encountered in unknown lands. People like Parkinson were called natural history painters. Natural history, the study and collection of materials related to the history of nature, flourished during the Age of Exploration.

Charles Darwin (1773?1858), who wrote On the Origin of Species, studied natural history. Both Darwin’s grandfather and father were doctors, and Darwin initially studied medicine in Edinburgh. However, he lost interest in medicine and pursued new fields at Cambridge, namely theology and natural history.

The author of Voyages of Discovery, Tony Rice, worked as a crustacean curator at the Natural History Museum in London. The London Natural History Museum is a treasure trove of natural history, housing 80 million specimens, 500,000 artworks, and 1 million books. The author selected 290 illustrations from the museum’s extensive collection and shares fascinating stories related to these images.

Interest in nature led to the founding of the Royal Society of London in 1660. The purpose of the Royal Society was to advance knowledge in natural sciences. At that time, the president of the Royal Society was the highest position in the British scientific community. Joseph Banks was the president of the Royal Society. He assumed the presidency in 1778 and held the position until his death in 1820.

During his tenure, in 1781, the American Revolutionary War ended, and Britain could no longer send criminals to North America. Banks proposed establishing a new penal colony in Australia. Consequently, eleven ships carrying 800 convicts arrived at Botany Bay, Australia, in January 1788. However, Arthur Phillip, the captain leading the fleet and the first governor of Australia, was not satisfied with Botany Bay. Phillip moved northward and settled at Port Jackson, which is present-day Sydney.

A painting of a lotus (Nelumbo lutea) by William Bartram, son of American horticulturist John Bartram. It is the first botanical illustration featuring a Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). The Venus flytrap is depicted beneath the lotus leaf in the left corner. Photo by Geulhangari, (c) Natural History Museum, London, UK

Darwin accompanied the voyage of the HMS Beagle, which surveyed the coastline of Latin America. From 1831, for five years, he extensively collected natural history and geological data from the South American continent and various Pacific islands aboard the Beagle. Artists such as Augustus Earle and Conrad Martens also accompanied the Beagle. While the Beagle surveyed the South American coast, Darwin traveled on foot multiple times across the continent. After completing the survey, the Beagle returned to England via New Zealand, Australia, and Africa, stopping at places like the Gal?pagos Islands, Tahiti, and Saint Helena Island, where Napoleon was exiled. It was during this time that Darwin laid the foundation for his theory of evolution.

Regarding On the Origin of Species, the author emphasizes not forgetting the contributions of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823?1913), Darwin’s colleague. In 1858, Wallace sent Darwin a letter from Ternate Island in the Maluku Islands of the Pacific. He enclosed a 4,000-word essay outlining his thoughts on how animals adapt, based on observations from Ternate Island and the Amazon rainforest, and asked Darwin whether the essay was worthy of publication in a scientific journal.

Wallace’s essay summarized the concept of evolution that Darwin had pondered for over 20 years after the Beagle voyage. Darwin submitted Wallace’s paper along with a report summarizing his own research to the scientific society, which led to Darwin publishing On the Origin of Species the following year, the author explains. Wallace significantly contributed to the joint advocacy of evolution by natural selection with Darwin. However, over time, credit for the theory of evolution became increasingly focused on Darwin. The author notes that, although difficult to understand, Wallace was not resentful about his contributions being forgotten.

Charles Darwin named this dolphin, discovered off the coast of Patagonia in South America, "Delphinus fitzroyi" in honor of Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the HMS Beagle. Captain FitzRoy responded by naming a mountain in Tierra del Fuego after Darwin. Photo by Geulhangari, (c) Natural History Museum, London, UK

Interest in natural history also laid the foundation for the establishment of the British Museum.

Hans Sloane (1660?1753), a physician, had been interested in plants since childhood. In 1687, he accepted the proposal of the Duke of Albemarle, appointed governor of Jamaica, and traveled to Jamaica as the duke’s personal physician. Sloane hired artists locally to depict Jamaica’s plants, fruits, fish, birds, and insects. Based on this, after returning to England, Sloane published books such as Catalogus Plantarum and Natural History of Jamaica, and continued collecting plant specimens.

His collection grew vast, including 6,000 shell specimens, 9,000 invertebrate specimens, 1,500 fish specimens, 1,200 bird specimens with eggs and nests, and 3,000 vertebrate specimens. Sloane wished for his collection to be accessible to everyone after his death and donated it to the nation. In 1753, the British Parliament passed a bill to establish the British Museum to exhibit Sloane’s collection.

Voyages of Discovery | Written by Tony Rice | Translated by Ham Hyun-joo | Geulhangari | 412 pages | 28,000 KRW

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