Depicting Sir Joseph
From his return on James Cook's Endeavour, portraits of Sir Joseph Banks by the most famous artists of the day strengthened his position as the great statesman of science, recognised by the King for increasing Britain’s scientific, imperial and commercial reputation. Three images: a proof engraving of Banks just returned on Cook's Endeavour; an unrecorded version of Banks's favourite portrait, captured mid-career by the daughter of a friend; and the rare 1795 first issue of the splendid satirical cartoon by James Gillray, capture Banks as the lion of Georgian Britain.
To mark the 250th and 200th anniversaries of Joseph Banks’s arrival on the east coast of Australia, and of his death in 1820, we are also offering a substantial collection of related material: see here.