Visitors to Grantham Museum will have the opportunity to step back more than 250 years and discover the extraordinary botanical legacy of Lincolnshire-born naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, with a special talk and temporary exhibition from Type & Forme.
The event, ‘Sir Joseph Banks: A Lincolnshire Botanist’s Explorations’, will explore Banks’ remarkable journey aboard HMS Endeavour and the extraordinary contribution he made to the study of natural history.
During the voyage, Banks and his fellow naturalists collected and documented an extraordinary range of plants, including around 1,300 species previously unknown to European science. Their discoveries helped transform European understanding of the natural world and created an important botanical record of places that had been little known to European travellers at the time.
The talk will also explore the fascinating story behind Banks’ Florilegium – the ambitious project to record the plants discovered during his expeditions. Banks commissioned artists, including Sydney Parkinson, to document the specimens, with hundreds of copper plates subsequently produced under his supervision. The resulting engravings provide an extraordinary visual record of the plants encountered during the voyage.
A Botanical Exhibition Upstairs at the Museum
Alongside the talk, Type & Forme will present a temporary exhibition upstairs at Grantham Museum, featuring ten botanical prints depicting plants collected by Banks and his team in New Zealand and Australia.
The prints provide a glimpse into the rich foliage, colourful flowers and extraordinary diversity encountered as the Endeavour travelled across the globe. They also tell a wider story about how botanical specimens were collected, recorded and preserved – and why these records remain important today.
Some of the plants documented by Banks eventually travelled to Europe and became part of the flora familiar to us today. Others have since become extinct, making Banks’ original specimens, drawings and engravings particularly important records of the natural world.
The exhibition also highlights the strong Lincolnshire connection to this remarkable story. Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) inherited Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire in 1761 and went on to become one of the most important British naturalists of his generation. His voyage aboard the Endeavour from 1768 to 1771 established him as a figure of international scientific significance.
The combination of the talk and exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity not only to hear the story of Banks’ extraordinary botanical discoveries, but also to see examples of the beautiful engravings created to preserve them.
The event will appeal to anyone with an interest in natural history, botany, exploration, art, science, local history and Lincolnshire’s connection to the wider world.
Talk Details – Friday 11th September, 2pm at Grantham Museum
https://granthammuseum.org.uk/event/talk-sir-joseph-banks-a-lincolnshire-botanists-explorations
The temporary exhibition will be available upstairs at Grantham Museum as part of the talk and Saturday 12th September, 10am – 4pm.
For further information and to book tickets, please visit Grantham Museum.
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