• Title
  Draft letter to British Navy Office from Sir Joseph Banks, 30 April 1810, concerning the employment of Robert Brown, and original reply from Navy Office, also concerning Ferdinand Bauer, 17 May 1810
• Creator
  Joseph Banks, Sir, 1743-1820
• Call number
  SAFE/MLMSS 8005 (Safe 1/462)
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  30 April 1810-17 May 1810
• Type of material
  Textual Records
• Reference code
  916112
• Physical Description
  0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - manuscript
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  Sir Joseph Banks arranged for the appointments of Robert Brown as botanist and Ferdinand Bauer as botanical artist on Matthew Flinders' Investigator voyage, 1801-1803. Brown and Bauer spent a further two years in Australia, returning to Britain in 1805. By then, Brown had collected some 6000 specimens in Australia and Bauer had made some 1540 drawings of Australian plants. Sir Joseph Banks ensured that Brown remained on the Government’s payroll until the end of 1810 and Bauer until the end of 1811, in order for them to prepare their work for publication.
  
  In 1810, Brown published his major work on Australian plants, 'Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'. The work established many new families across 464 genera (187 of which were new). In all, approximately 1000 species were named. It was extremely well received and Joseph Hooker considered it "the greatest botanical work that has ever appeared". Brown's 'Prodromus' supported the 'natural system' of classification of Jussieu as against rigid Linnaean practice. He also wrote 'General remarks, geographical and systematical, on the Botany of Terra Australis' as an appendix to Flinders' 'A Voyage to Terra Australis' (1814).
  
  In 1810, Brown became librarian to Banks and held this post until Banks' death in 1820. Under Banks' will, he received an annuity of 200 pounds, a lease of the house in Soho Square and a life interest in Banks' collections. Brown was president of the Linnean Society from 1849 to 1853.
  
  Ferdinand Bauer worked on his Australian drawings for some years, finishing many of them in the most painstaking detail for publication. By 1814, 234 watercolours had been completed and his 'Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae', originally intended to illustrate Brown's 'Prodromus', was published between 1813 and 1816. Ten more of Bauer's plates were published in the atlas to Flinders' 'A Voyage to Terra Australis' (1814).
  
  References:
  Brown, Robert (1773-1858), Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/ (accessed 11 January 2011)
  
  Bauer, Ferdinand Lukas (1760-1826), Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/ (accessed 11 January 2011)
  
  Library correspondence file
• Scope and Content
  These two letters, on paper watermarked 1809, document the support provided by Sir Joseph Banks as he supervised the work being done by Robert Brown and Ferdinand Bauer in publishing the botanical specimens collected during Flinders' Investigator voyage.
  
  1. Draft letter (1 page) with handwriting of Robert Brown and Sir Joseph Banks, undated. Brown had obviously been asked to write his own reference. However, Banks emends this in a revealing way. Brown had written that Banks could 'certify that Mr Robert Brown has been usefully and diligently employed in arranging and describing the Collections…'. Banks changes this to 'Although I cannot certify…' but then adds a long paragraph saying that Brown has been absent on a visit to his family and friends, with Banks’ consent, and that he has undertaken to complete his task in the coming months at no additional expense – so his salary should be paid.
  
  2. Official signed reply from the Navy Office (2 pages), 17 May 1810. Refers to Banks' letter dated 30th ultimo (that is, 30 April 1810). Clearly the final version of the letter sent by Banks contained a petition not only for the continuation of the salary of Robert Brown, but also that of Ferdinand Bauer. The Admiralty informs Banks in this letter that his recommendations have been granted: Mr Brown's salary will be continued until the end of 1810 and Mr Bauer's until the end of 1811.
• Copying Conditions
  Copyright status:: In copyright
  Research & study copies allowed
• Creator/Author/Artist
  Brown, Robert, 1773-1858
  Great Britain. Admiralty
  
• Name
  Bauer, Ferdinand, 1760-1826
  Brown, Robert, 1773-1858. Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae
  
• Subject
  Australia--Discovery and exploration--English.
  Botanists--Great Britain.
  Botanists--Australia.
  Naturalists--Great Britain--Correspondence.
  Botany--Australia.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE20605108

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