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Early New Zealand Botanical Art
Botanical publications and G. Forster's Voyage round the world
Botanical publications and G. Forster's Voyage round the world
It is a sad fact that, as with Cook's first voyage of discovery, manuscripts planned and worked on for years were not published. Before the voyage ended, however, the Forsters had a small book almost ready for publication. This work, Characteres Generum Plantarum, quas in Itinere ad lnsulas Maris Australis Collegerunt, Descriptserunt, Dilinearunt, Annis MDCCLXXII-MDCCLXXV, written in Latin, appeared in a folio edition of only six copies in 1775 and in a larger quarto edition in 1776 (published by White, Cadell and Elmsly, London). Some copies had hand-coloured plates. The book described seventy-five new genera and ninety-four new species from the voyage; thirty-one of the new genera were from New Zealand. It was written in haste and contains many errors and omissions (localities are not given for some species). Cheeseman (1906) commented, "The book is interesting on account of containing the first published descriptions of New Zealand plants, but otherwise is most disappointing. The descriptions are short and meagre, and the illustrations so badly executed as to be practically useless." Later in life, J. R. Forster recorded his regret in publishing so quickly, without taking time to consult Banks's collections.
For a time there were plans for Forster to write the narrative of the voyage, using his own and Cook's journals, under sponsorship of the Admiralty and sharing the profits with Cook. An agreement was signed whereby Cook would be responsible for writing the nautical and "ethnographical descriptions" of the voyage, and Forster would concentrate on the natural history, linguistics and "ethnographical observations". Misunderstandings arose and Forster refused to submit his narrative for correction, which he considered was treating him like a schoolboy. Cook's account of the voyage proceeded, and J. R. Forster was forbidden by the Admiralty to publish anything until the "official volumes" had appeared. Johann Forster overcame
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this difficulty by giving his journals to George, and the latter used them, along with his own notes, to produce A Voyage round the World, in his Britannic Majesty's Sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years 1772, 3, 4 and 5. Professor J. C. Beaglehole (1961) commented:
It must be admitted that this is a remarkable performance for a young man of twenty-two. It is remarkable even though based largely on the record kept by his father; for J. R. Forster could not write like this. Nevertheless, only too clearly can we see that it was done with the father hanging over the desk.
George's A Voyage round the World appeared in two volumes in 1777, six weeks before James Cook's two-volume A Voyage towards the South Vole, and Round the World. Performed in his Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Adventure, In the Years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1773. Written by James Cook, Commander of the Resolution. In which is included, Captain Furneaux's Narrative of his Proceedings during the Separation of the Ships. Both accounts sold for two guineas, but Cook's contained over sixty engravings and sold rapidly, whereas Forster's book sold poorly and did not cover publication costs. Cook, who had set off in July 1776 on his ill-fated third voyage, did not live to see his book in print.
A second work dealing with the botany of the voyage appeared ten years after Characteres Generum Plant arum. Written by George Forster and published in 1786 in Gottingen, Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus is a catalogue containing brief diagnoses of 594 species, of which 141 were New Zealand plants. Twenty-three names were added without descriptions. The book is not illustrated, and Cheeseman's (1906) suggestion that "the descriptions are short and unsatisfactory, and usually quite insufficient for the proper identification of the species" has been echoed by other New Zealand botanists. Prodromus makes use of some information in Solander's unpublished manuscript, but it is still not clear what access the Forsters were permitted to Banks and Solander material, both before and after the voyage.
A third short work appeared in the same year as Prodromus. This was the published thesis that George Forster presented for the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Halle, Germany — De Plantis Esculentis Insularum Oceani Australis. Comment atio Botanic a (Halle and Berlin). It included, as Cheeseman put it, "full descriptions and much curious information respecting the esculent [food] plants, fifty-four in number, observed during the voyage, fourteen of which were from New Zealand." George gave the manuscript to his father to check on its way to press in Halle, and to his anger, when the book appeared, he found that Johann had included, inter alia, a personal attack on a man who had given some of their plants to Linnaeus's son. Linnaeus the Younger (1741-83) had then published descriptions of the plants, thereby "stealing a march" on the Forsters. An example of this, from the New Zealand flora, indicated by the suffix "Linn.f." (f. = filius (Latin) = son) after the scientific name of the plant, is the kamahi, Wein mannia racemosa.
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George had a further 300 copies of De Plantis Esculentis printed in Berlin, omitting his father's remarks. These publications are the only ones dealing with New Zealand plants collected on the second voyage. The Forsters' reputations as botanists would surely have been enhanced had George published the major work planned on the botany of the second voyage — Icones Plantarum in Itinere ad Insulis Maris Australis Collectarum. Even the plates had been prepared and some pulls taken from these 131 engravings. Two sets remain, one now in Leningrad and the other in the British Museum. One of George's sisters, Virginia, was the best artist in the Forster family. She copied and reworked some of his original sketches, although his name appeared on them.
One must also regret that an equivalent work by Johann Forster on the zoology of the voyage was not published in his lifetime. This Descriptions Animalium, which has been described as a "hidden treasure", did appear posthumously, edited by M. H. K. Lichtenstein in 1844. J. R. Forster's published monographs on penguins (1780) and albatrosses (1785) from the second voyage have been universally admired.