August, 2025

In the 18^thC science, travel and exploration, connections were all important, leading to intriguing networks.

The Swedish naturalist and father of taxonomy Carl Linnaeus sent out 17 of his ‘Apostles’ to collect plant and animal specimens from around the world, adding to his great work on the classification of species in 1753.  

Two of those, Daniel Solander went with Joseph Banks on Cook’s first voyage, and Anders Sparrman on Cook’s his second voyage (1772-5), with the accompanying naturalist Johann Forster and his son Georg. Their appointments all by leading man of science, Joseph Banks.

 

Johann Forster achieved his position partly through his translations of scientific works, known to Linnaeus, One of these, by Pehr Osbeck (A voyage to China, 1771), is dedicated by Forster to Thomas Pennant, a gentleman naturalist and traveller, who knew Linnaeus very well, plus Buffon, Voltaire, Banks, and Forster, among others.

 

We have some books for sale related to these connections. They include Forster’s 1778 work on the geography and natural history of Cook’s second voyage, his sons’ 2 volume work A Voyage Round the World  and a Cockerell Press edition of Sparrman’s account of the same voyage. Thomas Pennant wrote a number of books on travel, including his Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides.

 

And you couldn’t do much in science and exploration at the time without it being signed off by Sir Joseph Banks. We have his signature available.