Sir Joseph Banks and the Age of Enlightenment

The RGSSA library holds many old and rare books illustrating Banks' long and influential career.

Sir Joseph Banks, naturalist, explorer and President of the Royal Society for more than 40 years, was among the most outstanding figures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  In his younger years, as well as accompanying Cook on his voyage to the Pacific, he sailed on expeditions to Newfoundland, Labrador and Iceland collecting over 30,000 plant specimens.

Banks used his position as President of the Royal Society to encourage the scientific endeavours of others, sending botanists and explorers all over the world, looking for new and economically useful species that could be cultivated on British lands. He was knighted in 1795.

The RGSSA library holds many old and rare books illustrating Banks' long and influential career. Presented by Sally Hanley, this session will also include valuable RGSSA items retrieved from the State Library’s Rare Book Room, namely Banks’ journal (from Captain Cook’s first voyage in HMS Endeavour, 1768-1762) and two rare manuscripts.