Letter from George Forster to Thomas Pennant, 15 February 1784

MLMSS 7912

fonds

Copy made at unknown date of original dated 15 February 1784

873567

0.01 metres of textual material - photocopy

Georg Forster, (1754-1794), German writer, traveller and revolutionary, was born on 26 November 1754 at Nassenhüben, near Danzig. In 1765 he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on a voyage of scientific exploration to Russia. Then the family settled in England, living in Warrington and London. At 12 Georg Forster was already translating French, Swedish and Russian books into English and German, and for a time he taught languages. In 1772-75 he was his father's assistant on Captain James Cook's second voyage. Because of J. R. Forster's quarrel with the Admiralty, A Voyage Round the World in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop Resolution … (1777) had to be written by Georg Foster.

Reference:
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/ (accessed August 31, 2009)

Original held previously in the collection of Rex Nan Kivell, as of 1961, now held in the National Library of Australia

Photocopy of a letter from George Forster to Thomas Pennant describes his new position as Professor of natural history at the University of Vilna in Lithuania and requests natural history books be sent to an address for him in London.

Transferred from the Manuscripts Collection Af 34/8 and Af 34/9, Sept. 2009