Rare copy of engraving

Press, 1 February 1982, Page 13

Rare copy of engraving

PA Wellington The first instalment of Banks's florilegium, a set of coloured engravings of the plants collected during Captain Cook’s expedition in the Endeavour during 1768-71 is on show at the Alexander Turnbull Library. The engravings are being printed in stages, with the final instalment expected to be completed in 1986. The Alexander Turnbull Library’s copy of the first instalment is one of only 100 printed. Of the total of 783 plates in the florilegium, 183 show New Zealand plants collected

by Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander and drawn by Sydney Parkinson. The chief librarian' of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Mr James Traue, said that the florilegium was important for its- place in the history of botany and its associations with Cook and Banks and the great scientific voyages in the Pacific in the eighteenth century. The copy ■ was also a superb piece of colour printing. Not only were the drawings old but. the method of reproduction was a seventeenth century_ technique de-

veloped by a Dutch printer. Called “a la poupee,” the technique involves working up to 10 colours directly into a copper plate before each print is pulled from the plate, with additional hand colouring when required. The method had been chosen as the best for preserving the qualities of the original watercolours and copper engravings. The total cost of the set over six years was expected to be about $120,000. The original engravings are owned by the British Museum.