Description
This collection includes portraits created throughout Sir Joseph Banks' lifetime "...including proof copies, separately issued
prints and the Gillray caricature of Banks as 'The Great South Sea Caterpillar.' Also included is a signed vellum lease document
dated 1801 and a biographical piece in Italian honoring Banks' work as a naturalist." [Taken from bookseller's description]
Background
Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. He was the president
of the Royal Society and an acknowledged expert on colonization, exploreation, currency, botanic gardens, sheep, and New South
Wales in Australia. His high profile and extensive influence in society inspired admiration and many portraits of Banks throughout
his lifetime. This fame also inspired lampooning as seen in the James Gillray (1756-1815) cartoon of "The Great South Sea
Catepillar' created when Banks was invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath in 1795.
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the repository. Any applicable literary rights would reside with the creators of the documents
or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please email: sutro@library.ca.gov .
Availability
This collection is open for research. Please page materials three business days in advance of your visit by email: sutro@library.ca.gov
.