From plant to print
Banks' Florilegium was the result of the work of a number of people. Joseph Banks and naturalist Daniel Solander collected the specimens and artist Sydney Parkinson sketched them and applied watercolours to record the colours. After his death, they were completed in London by artists using Parkinson's sketches and the collected specimens. The engravings were made using the watercolours as a guide.
In the 1980s, the team printing Banks' Florilegium ensured the accuracy of their prints by comparing them with the original sketches, watercolours and specimens held by the British Museum.
See the plates and the material they were based on in Flash:
Launch the Banks' Florilegium - Flash interactive
(Flash 9 compatible – download Flash)
See the plates and the material they were based on in HTML: