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The Multifarious Mr. Banks: From Botany Bay to Kew, The Natural Historian Who Shaped the World
A fascinating life of Sir Joseph Banks which restores him to his proper place in history as a leading scientific figure of the English Enlightenment
“An extensive, admiring account of his subject’s circuitous route to fame and power.”— Wall Street Journal
“Readers interested in the British Enlightenment, the history of science, or the lives of great figures who played leading roles in England’s emergence as a global presence will enjoy this highly informative book.”— Choice
As official botanist on James Cook's first circumnavigation, the longest-serving president of the Royal Society, advisor to King George III, the "father of Australia," and the man who established Kew as the world's leading botanical garden, Sir Joseph Banks was integral to the English Enlightenment. Yet he has not received the recognition that his multifarious achievements deserve.
In this engaging account, Toby Musgrave reveals the true extent of Banks’s contributions to science and Britain. From an early age Banks pursued his passion for natural history through study and extensive travel, most famously on the HMS Endeavour . He went on to become a pivotal figure in the advancement of British scientific, economic, and colonial interests. With his enquiring, enterprising mind and extensive network of correspondents, Banks’s reputation and influence were global. Drawing widely on Banks's writings, Musgrave sheds light on Banks’s profound impact on British science and empire in an age of rapid advancement.
“An extensive, admiring account of his subject’s circuitous route to fame and power.”— Wall Street Journal
“Readers interested in the British Enlightenment, the history of science, or the lives of great figures who played leading roles in England’s emergence as a global presence will enjoy this highly informative book.”— Choice
As official botanist on James Cook's first circumnavigation, the longest-serving president of the Royal Society, advisor to King George III, the "father of Australia," and the man who established Kew as the world's leading botanical garden, Sir Joseph Banks was integral to the English Enlightenment. Yet he has not received the recognition that his multifarious achievements deserve.
In this engaging account, Toby Musgrave reveals the true extent of Banks’s contributions to science and Britain. From an early age Banks pursued his passion for natural history through study and extensive travel, most famously on the HMS Endeavour . He went on to become a pivotal figure in the advancement of British scientific, economic, and colonial interests. With his enquiring, enterprising mind and extensive network of correspondents, Banks’s reputation and influence were global. Drawing widely on Banks's writings, Musgrave sheds light on Banks’s profound impact on British science and empire in an age of rapid advancement.
410 pages, Paperback
Published May 25, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 14, 2020
This book was not an easy read – but it was filled with so much interesting information, that it was well worth the time it took to get through it. As a New Zealander, I had heard of Joseph Banks, and knew that he had travelled with Cook on the Endeavor to NZ and Australia, and that he was a botanist – but I had no idea about how many other things he was involved in, how influential he was in Georgian Britain, and the enormous contributions that he made to sciences.
Banks came from a rich, but non-aristocratic, family. He had an insatiable curiosity that remained with him throughout his life:
He was largely self-taught, but corresponded – and collaborated with – leading scientists across the world. He believed that
He was responsible for turning Kew Gardens into the world leading botanical research and plant repository that it is today, and started botanical gardens (off-shoots of Kew) in many British overseas colonies. He left behind invaluable herbarium collections, and either wrote himself – or instigated the writing of – a multitude of scientific papers, mostly on botany.
He was apolitical, but worked with, and advised, politicians, government, scientists and the monarchy. Banks made friends and allies from all walks of life – from King George III to impoverished scientists, to Pacific Islanders. He valued diplomacy over use of force, and intelligence over wealth or precedence. He is still today, the longest serving president of the Royal Society. On becoming president in 1778:
Although he was given to inveigling funds and resources (from the Admiralty in particular) for his research into the natural world, he invariably provided a significant part of the money required from his private purse.
With his expeditions to New Foundland, Iceland and with Captain Cook, Banks set the standard for scientific exploration for centuries to come. Although after his trip to Iceland, he seldom made international forays himself, he was behind the planning for many exploratory trips – to Australia, the Americas, Asia and Africa.
He was at all times looking for ways to improve the fortunes of Britain, and to advance scientific thought.
If there were a public statue of Banks, it is highly likely – given the current mood – that there would be pressure to tear it down. He was morally against slavery – but did attempt to supply slave owners with cheap food for their slaves, as he could see that Britain was benefitting financially from the slave trade. He was behind the establishment (and initial running) of the penal colony in Botany Bay, Australia, and the annexation of a number of colonies for Britain, leading to the exploitation and degradation of native populations such as the Maori and Aborigines. His idea of cataloguing living species, was to kill them, and – once catalogued and drawn – if possible, eat them. I cringed to learn that the Endeavour crew frequently dined on Albatross!
But he was – for his time – an enlightened man, without whom the scientific world would be a much poorer place.
So, the subject matter of this book is fascinating. It is well researched, with very full references everywhere, and would be ideal for a serious historian. But, the countless references and the minutae make it difficult to read as the prose does not flow. Additionally, quote marks are used inconsistently. You often know Banks (not particularly literate) is being quoted only because the spelling, punctuation and literacy is suddenly of very low standard. I read this book as an ARC on Kindle – there were many illustrations referred to, to which I had no access. They would have made the book much more enjoyable, and I am sure they will be in the published book.
Hence, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about this amazing man – but, not to people wanting an easy, enjoyable read.
Finally:
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Banks came from a rich, but non-aristocratic, family. He had an insatiable curiosity that remained with him throughout his life:
Banks became an acknowledged expert on a wide range of subjects including agriculture, botanic gardens, canals, cartography, coinage, colonisation, currency, drainage, earthquakes, economic botany, exploration, farming, leather-tanning, Merino sheep, plant pathology and even the plucking of geese
He was largely self-taught, but corresponded – and collaborated with – leading scientists across the world. He believed that
“international science should rise above international conflict with the memorable phrase that ‘the science of two Nations may be at Peace while their politics are at War’.”
He was responsible for turning Kew Gardens into the world leading botanical research and plant repository that it is today, and started botanical gardens (off-shoots of Kew) in many British overseas colonies. He left behind invaluable herbarium collections, and either wrote himself – or instigated the writing of – a multitude of scientific papers, mostly on botany.
He was apolitical, but worked with, and advised, politicians, government, scientists and the monarchy. Banks made friends and allies from all walks of life – from King George III to impoverished scientists, to Pacific Islanders. He valued diplomacy over use of force, and intelligence over wealth or precedence. He is still today, the longest serving president of the Royal Society. On becoming president in 1778:
Banks now set down two new rules: ‘That any person who had successfully cultivated science, especially by original investigations, should be admitted, whatever might be his rank or fortune ’, and ‘That men of wealth or station, disposed to promote, adorn and patronise science should, with due caution and deliberation, be allowed to enter’. Ever the pragmatist, Banks had quickly realised that while wealthy, influential Fellows did not necessarily make good scientists, they could pay their membership fees. And together the sum was greater than the parts: scientific advances were made, the less-affluent found patrons, the Society’s costs were met and the powerful gave access to influence.
Although he was given to inveigling funds and resources (from the Admiralty in particular) for his research into the natural world, he invariably provided a significant part of the money required from his private purse.
With his expeditions to New Foundland, Iceland and with Captain Cook, Banks set the standard for scientific exploration for centuries to come. Although after his trip to Iceland, he seldom made international forays himself, he was behind the planning for many exploratory trips – to Australia, the Americas, Asia and Africa.
“his memberships and personality enabled Banks to develop, nurture and expand a huge network of personal friendships and/or professional associates; and it was by means of his perspicacious orchestration of this network of royalty, nobles, politicians, civil servants, naval and military personnel, businessmen, scientists, farmers, engineers, skilled craftsmen, etc., that Banks was able to influence policy on a national, colonial and international level.”
He was at all times looking for ways to improve the fortunes of Britain, and to advance scientific thought.
If there were a public statue of Banks, it is highly likely – given the current mood – that there would be pressure to tear it down. He was morally against slavery – but did attempt to supply slave owners with cheap food for their slaves, as he could see that Britain was benefitting financially from the slave trade. He was behind the establishment (and initial running) of the penal colony in Botany Bay, Australia, and the annexation of a number of colonies for Britain, leading to the exploitation and degradation of native populations such as the Maori and Aborigines. His idea of cataloguing living species, was to kill them, and – once catalogued and drawn – if possible, eat them. I cringed to learn that the Endeavour crew frequently dined on Albatross!
But he was – for his time – an enlightened man, without whom the scientific world would be a much poorer place.
So, the subject matter of this book is fascinating. It is well researched, with very full references everywhere, and would be ideal for a serious historian. But, the countless references and the minutae make it difficult to read as the prose does not flow. Additionally, quote marks are used inconsistently. You often know Banks (not particularly literate) is being quoted only because the spelling, punctuation and literacy is suddenly of very low standard. I read this book as an ARC on Kindle – there were many illustrations referred to, to which I had no access. They would have made the book much more enjoyable, and I am sure they will be in the published book.
Hence, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about this amazing man – but, not to people wanting an easy, enjoyable read.
Finally:
“Banks’s greatest achievement was therefore the establishment of new methodologies for advancing science (and thus improvement) within his time, by means of devising, organising and conducting diverse vehicles of progress – including, notably, voyages of discovery, the establishment of new institutions and the invigoration of existing ones, and partnerships with government; and by the application to them of high standards of knowledge, co-operation, organisation, management and dissemination. He was able to achieve so much exactly because he was of his time, and simultaneously very much his own man.”
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
June 21, 2025
First half (chronological, voyages, etc...) good, second half (non chronological, societies etc...) bit dull.
May 18, 2020
Thank you to NETGALLEY for providing me with an ARC of this book before publication in exchange for an honest review.
This is a very thorough exploration of Joseph Banks' scientific and intellectual contributions to British history. It is easy to follow in spite of it dealing with dense scientific information, and all of Musgrave's main ideas are conveyed clearly and convincingly in a well-organised manner. All in all, this biography fulfils its objective and makes academic scientific history accessible to all readership.
I am a literary historian specialised in the eighteenth century, so many of the names of the people who knew and interacted with Banks rang a bell. There are a lot of these characters, all of whom were leading figures in their respective fields, and perhaps due to this overabundance, they are reduced to their names, a few accompanying biographical facts unable to integrate them in the narrative. Similarly, and again, I believe this is due to the massive amount of information Musgrave is able to manage, at times the reader feels lost in a sea of information (definitely too many sheep!), and the reading becomes less lively. Finally, I believe it is important to note that Banks' role in the colonial expansion is acknowledged, but not dealt with (which, in turn, is also acknowledged, although it didn't completely convince me). Nevertheless, this biography makes an important contribution to its field.
This is a very thorough exploration of Joseph Banks' scientific and intellectual contributions to British history. It is easy to follow in spite of it dealing with dense scientific information, and all of Musgrave's main ideas are conveyed clearly and convincingly in a well-organised manner. All in all, this biography fulfils its objective and makes academic scientific history accessible to all readership.
I am a literary historian specialised in the eighteenth century, so many of the names of the people who knew and interacted with Banks rang a bell. There are a lot of these characters, all of whom were leading figures in their respective fields, and perhaps due to this overabundance, they are reduced to their names, a few accompanying biographical facts unable to integrate them in the narrative. Similarly, and again, I believe this is due to the massive amount of information Musgrave is able to manage, at times the reader feels lost in a sea of information (definitely too many sheep!), and the reading becomes less lively. Finally, I believe it is important to note that Banks' role in the colonial expansion is acknowledged, but not dealt with (which, in turn, is also acknowledged, although it didn't completely convince me). Nevertheless, this biography makes an important contribution to its field.
August 6, 2024
Joseph Banks was the first [British] man of Scientific education to undertake a voyage of discovery and is noted for having established a new paradigm for ship-based natural history research.
This book is a dense read, apparently being a precise of Bank's correspondence and diaries. It is great if you are interested in the minutiae of his life, but it is difficult to extract the bigger picture of his accomplishments. The author seems overly concerned with various critics of Banks and his actions.
Although Banks was an important man of science, he generated little written material. The first of his journals to appear in print – the Endeavour record – was published 125 years after the Endeavour’s return; both his Newfoundland and Iceland journals remained unpublished until the 1970s and that covering his travels in the Netherlands until 2005. Of the eight journals he kept, some still remain unpublished to this day.
While Bank's attended universities, he never attained a degree. When his father died, Bank's was left a large estate and thereby had the funds to support both travel and scientific endeavors. His studies were largely in natural history. One of his references was "The Herball" by John Gerard, published in 1636 edition and and containing over 800 species of plants and more than 2,500 woodcuts.
His first voyage was to Newfoundland and Labrador where he published the first scientific descriptions of the plants and animals, including the Great Auk which was subsequently driven to extinction.
Banks was a member of Cook's first expedition, the primary objective of which was to observe the transit of Venus. Cook's objectives were fulfilled: the hypothesized position of the Southern Continent had been disproved, the transit of Venus had been observed, and Cook had surveyed and filled in many blanks on the chart of the South Seas, and as expected of a naval officer on a voyage of discovery, had claimed great tracts of land for the king.
Banks was the first scientist of any consequence to voyage and explore in the Southern Hemisphere. The number of plants collected was about 3000, 110 of which are new genera, and 1300 new species which were never seen or heard of before in Europe. Sydney Parkinson had drawn 1300 or 1400 prints of the collected plants, each with a flower, a leaf, and a portion of the stalk, coloured by the same hand. Banks created his own herbarium based on the plants collected, which was referenced by scientists of the time and was eventually bequeathed to the Natural History Museum.
Banks ability with language was demonstrated when he quickly learned something of the Mā’ohi language, acquiring a vocabulary of more than 750 ordinary words and phrases. Given the local name ‘Tapane.’ (Cook was ‘Toole.’ and Solander ‘Torano’), Banks was the de facto fulcrum of communication between the two peoples. He wrote a English–Tahitian dictionary after five months in Tahiti.
Upon his return homw, Banks lobbied to be included on the second expedition. Unfortunately, the time available did not allow publication of his voyages or his collections, much to the disappointment of many including Linnaeus.
Due to his various demands, Banks withdrew from Cook's second expedition, instead going to Iceland. There he described the flora - including Iceland purslane (Koenigia islandica) - and fauna and made a collection of Icelandic books and manuscripts. He became a long time friend of the Icelandic people, later assisting them politically.
Banks is famously associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. His goal was to establish the garden’s supremacy both nationally and internationally by means of an unrivalled living botanical collection. Banks dispatched Kew-trained gardeners to various destinations around the world specifically in order to collect plants. When Banks set sail in the Endeavour in 1768 a mere 600 taxa were cultivated there; the early 1800's over 11,000 taxa were growing, dominated by species from Australia, South America, Siberia and China.
Kew became a place of botanical pilgrimage for gardeners wishing to see the latest introductions, and was instrumental in driving the nation’s obsession with gardening novelty. Banks was generally happy to share Kew’s hard-acquired bounty – just so long as Kew received the new plants first and only when the particular species had been propagated sufficiently to be no longer rare. Nurserymen in particular begged for seeds and cuttings with which to feed wealthy gardeners’s insatiable desire for foreign species, and the turnaround could be impressively swift. For example, in 1794, only six years after the first seeds of the crimson bottlebrush (then Metrosideros citrina and now Callistemon citrinus) arrived at Kew from Australia, The Botanical Magazine reported that young plants were available in ‘most of the Nurseries near town.
A consummate colonialist, Banks perceived exploration, colonisation and commerce as complementary; and cognizant as he was to the economic value of certain commodity plants, he was adamant that they should contribute to the nation’s commercial life and finances. He worked with forty-nine ‘Botanical Departments and Establishments' in India, and the Colonies. Economic plants – tobacco, banana, sugar, indigo, coffee, teak, sago – were routinely transferred between colonies and to new colonies, later cochineal, tea and hemp breadfruit, more easily grown than plantain. Sugar was collected at Tahiti and transferred to Jamaica and from there to the other sugar-producing islands in the West Indies, where this particular strain was shown to be advantageous because its thicker, stronger canes were more resilient to wind damage. Utilising Kew, Banks demonstrated how the practice of transferring between colonies those plant taxa that yielded commodities could make a substantial contribution to the empire’s plantations and nation’s finances.
Banks has been called the ‘Father of Australia’. When England was searching for a location for remote penal colony, Banks recommended Botany Bay in Australia. He aided George Suttor who eventually became the first successful market gardener in Australia, largely due to fruit trees and vines provided by Banks. Banks was also involved in the development of the fine wool industry, largely by John Macarthur, based on Merino sheep obtained in Spain.
Banks was president of the Royal Society for an unbroken forty-one and a half years, where he worked toward the Baconian ideal of a strong partnership between government and science. However, he was apolitical and resolutely rejected the frequent overtures to tempt him to stand for Parliament.
The perennially curious Banks became an acknowledged expert on a wide range of subjects including agriculture, botanic gardens, canals, cartography, coinage, colonisation, currency, drainage, earthquakes, economic botany, exploration, farming, leather-tanning, Merino sheep, plant pathology and even the plucking of geese.
Banks did much research in his own gardens, including the cultivation of the American cranberry, publishing the results in 1812 - well before commercial production in the Americas in the 1840's. his invention of the orchid basket as a means of cultivating epiphytic orchids.
When a famine occurred in 1795 as a result of a failed grain harvest, Banks championed the use of the potato. He was the first to recognize that the blight that was attacking grain crops was present on barberries (Berberis vulgaris) and transferred to the grain.
Banks arranged the embankment, drainage, navigation and survey of ten thousand acres of his own wetlands, making it productive farmland which he then sold.
Banks was an instrumental and formative player in the significant and pioneering survey which in due course culminated in the first accurate cartographical record of the United Kingdom.
In 1799 he became heavily involved with founding the Royal Institution of Great Britain, or as it is more familiarly known, the Royal Institution. He believed its activities should advance, promote and disseminate useful scientific knowledge but disillusionment set in when he realised that other members favoured fashionable popularity and introduced lectures on non-scientific subjects such as art, history, literature and music.
Banks believed that the advancement of science requires not only minds of genius to make breakthrough discoveries, but also those with the vision to recognise where advances would be advantageous. "A man is never so well employed, as when he is Laboring for the advantage of the Public; without the Expectation, the hope or Even a wish to Derive advantage of any kind, from the Result of his Exertions."
This book is a dense read, apparently being a precise of Bank's correspondence and diaries. It is great if you are interested in the minutiae of his life, but it is difficult to extract the bigger picture of his accomplishments. The author seems overly concerned with various critics of Banks and his actions.
Although Banks was an important man of science, he generated little written material. The first of his journals to appear in print – the Endeavour record – was published 125 years after the Endeavour’s return; both his Newfoundland and Iceland journals remained unpublished until the 1970s and that covering his travels in the Netherlands until 2005. Of the eight journals he kept, some still remain unpublished to this day.
While Bank's attended universities, he never attained a degree. When his father died, Bank's was left a large estate and thereby had the funds to support both travel and scientific endeavors. His studies were largely in natural history. One of his references was "The Herball" by John Gerard, published in 1636 edition and and containing over 800 species of plants and more than 2,500 woodcuts.
His first voyage was to Newfoundland and Labrador where he published the first scientific descriptions of the plants and animals, including the Great Auk which was subsequently driven to extinction.
Banks was a member of Cook's first expedition, the primary objective of which was to observe the transit of Venus. Cook's objectives were fulfilled: the hypothesized position of the Southern Continent had been disproved, the transit of Venus had been observed, and Cook had surveyed and filled in many blanks on the chart of the South Seas, and as expected of a naval officer on a voyage of discovery, had claimed great tracts of land for the king.
Banks was the first scientist of any consequence to voyage and explore in the Southern Hemisphere. The number of plants collected was about 3000, 110 of which are new genera, and 1300 new species which were never seen or heard of before in Europe. Sydney Parkinson had drawn 1300 or 1400 prints of the collected plants, each with a flower, a leaf, and a portion of the stalk, coloured by the same hand. Banks created his own herbarium based on the plants collected, which was referenced by scientists of the time and was eventually bequeathed to the Natural History Museum.
Banks ability with language was demonstrated when he quickly learned something of the Mā’ohi language, acquiring a vocabulary of more than 750 ordinary words and phrases. Given the local name ‘Tapane.’ (Cook was ‘Toole.’ and Solander ‘Torano’), Banks was the de facto fulcrum of communication between the two peoples. He wrote a English–Tahitian dictionary after five months in Tahiti.
Upon his return homw, Banks lobbied to be included on the second expedition. Unfortunately, the time available did not allow publication of his voyages or his collections, much to the disappointment of many including Linnaeus.
Due to his various demands, Banks withdrew from Cook's second expedition, instead going to Iceland. There he described the flora - including Iceland purslane (Koenigia islandica) - and fauna and made a collection of Icelandic books and manuscripts. He became a long time friend of the Icelandic people, later assisting them politically.
Banks is famously associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. His goal was to establish the garden’s supremacy both nationally and internationally by means of an unrivalled living botanical collection. Banks dispatched Kew-trained gardeners to various destinations around the world specifically in order to collect plants. When Banks set sail in the Endeavour in 1768 a mere 600 taxa were cultivated there; the early 1800's over 11,000 taxa were growing, dominated by species from Australia, South America, Siberia and China.
Kew became a place of botanical pilgrimage for gardeners wishing to see the latest introductions, and was instrumental in driving the nation’s obsession with gardening novelty. Banks was generally happy to share Kew’s hard-acquired bounty – just so long as Kew received the new plants first and only when the particular species had been propagated sufficiently to be no longer rare. Nurserymen in particular begged for seeds and cuttings with which to feed wealthy gardeners’s insatiable desire for foreign species, and the turnaround could be impressively swift. For example, in 1794, only six years after the first seeds of the crimson bottlebrush (then Metrosideros citrina and now Callistemon citrinus) arrived at Kew from Australia, The Botanical Magazine reported that young plants were available in ‘most of the Nurseries near town.
A consummate colonialist, Banks perceived exploration, colonisation and commerce as complementary; and cognizant as he was to the economic value of certain commodity plants, he was adamant that they should contribute to the nation’s commercial life and finances. He worked with forty-nine ‘Botanical Departments and Establishments' in India, and the Colonies. Economic plants – tobacco, banana, sugar, indigo, coffee, teak, sago – were routinely transferred between colonies and to new colonies, later cochineal, tea and hemp breadfruit, more easily grown than plantain. Sugar was collected at Tahiti and transferred to Jamaica and from there to the other sugar-producing islands in the West Indies, where this particular strain was shown to be advantageous because its thicker, stronger canes were more resilient to wind damage. Utilising Kew, Banks demonstrated how the practice of transferring between colonies those plant taxa that yielded commodities could make a substantial contribution to the empire’s plantations and nation’s finances.
Banks has been called the ‘Father of Australia’. When England was searching for a location for remote penal colony, Banks recommended Botany Bay in Australia. He aided George Suttor who eventually became the first successful market gardener in Australia, largely due to fruit trees and vines provided by Banks. Banks was also involved in the development of the fine wool industry, largely by John Macarthur, based on Merino sheep obtained in Spain.
Banks was president of the Royal Society for an unbroken forty-one and a half years, where he worked toward the Baconian ideal of a strong partnership between government and science. However, he was apolitical and resolutely rejected the frequent overtures to tempt him to stand for Parliament.
The perennially curious Banks became an acknowledged expert on a wide range of subjects including agriculture, botanic gardens, canals, cartography, coinage, colonisation, currency, drainage, earthquakes, economic botany, exploration, farming, leather-tanning, Merino sheep, plant pathology and even the plucking of geese.
Banks did much research in his own gardens, including the cultivation of the American cranberry, publishing the results in 1812 - well before commercial production in the Americas in the 1840's. his invention of the orchid basket as a means of cultivating epiphytic orchids.
When a famine occurred in 1795 as a result of a failed grain harvest, Banks championed the use of the potato. He was the first to recognize that the blight that was attacking grain crops was present on barberries (Berberis vulgaris) and transferred to the grain.
Banks arranged the embankment, drainage, navigation and survey of ten thousand acres of his own wetlands, making it productive farmland which he then sold.
Banks was an instrumental and formative player in the significant and pioneering survey which in due course culminated in the first accurate cartographical record of the United Kingdom.
In 1799 he became heavily involved with founding the Royal Institution of Great Britain, or as it is more familiarly known, the Royal Institution. He believed its activities should advance, promote and disseminate useful scientific knowledge but disillusionment set in when he realised that other members favoured fashionable popularity and introduced lectures on non-scientific subjects such as art, history, literature and music.
Banks believed that the advancement of science requires not only minds of genius to make breakthrough discoveries, but also those with the vision to recognise where advances would be advantageous. "A man is never so well employed, as when he is Laboring for the advantage of the Public; without the Expectation, the hope or Even a wish to Derive advantage of any kind, from the Result of his Exertions."
June 26, 2020
This is a great account of one of the 18th century’s most fascinating characters. Partly due to not being associated with one big discovery, Joseph Banks is less known than some of his contemporaries. Yet as the subtitle of garden historian Toby Musgrave’s book, Banks was the natural historian who shaped the world in so many ways. I hope this new book gets a wide readership as Banks really should be better known.
The man had so many fingers in so many pies, it’s as if he belonged to the earlier era of Natural Philosophers rather than single discipline scientists and perhaps that’s one of the reasons why he is sometimes referred to as jack of all trades. I’d first read about him in an account of Cook’s first voyage on the Endeavour some years ago and was intrigued. I later learned he established Kew Gardens, was the longest serving president of Royal Society, instrumental in sponsoring Mungo Park’s explorations in Africa. I also knew that he had lots of critics so I was really keen to read Musgrave’s account of his life and work.
Musgrave’s view is very well balanced. It’s not all unreserved praise as Banks could be despotic and authoritarian on occasion. For example, he was going to join Cook on his second voyage but quit in protest when his specially designed cabin for plants situated on deck made the ship unseaworthy. The cabin had to go so Banks threw a fit. He remained friends with Cook for life though and kept a portrait of him in his library. Of course, Cook’s voyages are quite controversial because of subsequent colonisation and exploitation and subjugation of native populations. Musgrove addresses some of these issues. Banks was undoubtedly a colonialist and Musgrave puts his views in context as a man of his time, which is not an apology.
I very much enjoyed learning more about the early years of Kew, Banks’s vision and plans for the gardens and the plant hunters he would send on sometimes extremely perilous botanising trips around the world. As I write, Kew has reopened following the lockdown and I can’t wait to visit again. Quite a chunk of the book is dedicated to Banks’s association with Kew and it is worth reading the book for this alone, especially now that so many plant species are threatened and Kew (and Wakehurst) remain committed to preserving and propagating as many as possible.
If I had one small criticism, it is that the last part of the book reads a bit too much like an endless list and is a little dry. Still, I thought it very good overall.
My thanks to Yale University Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Multifarous Mr Banks.
The man had so many fingers in so many pies, it’s as if he belonged to the earlier era of Natural Philosophers rather than single discipline scientists and perhaps that’s one of the reasons why he is sometimes referred to as jack of all trades. I’d first read about him in an account of Cook’s first voyage on the Endeavour some years ago and was intrigued. I later learned he established Kew Gardens, was the longest serving president of Royal Society, instrumental in sponsoring Mungo Park’s explorations in Africa. I also knew that he had lots of critics so I was really keen to read Musgrave’s account of his life and work.
Musgrave’s view is very well balanced. It’s not all unreserved praise as Banks could be despotic and authoritarian on occasion. For example, he was going to join Cook on his second voyage but quit in protest when his specially designed cabin for plants situated on deck made the ship unseaworthy. The cabin had to go so Banks threw a fit. He remained friends with Cook for life though and kept a portrait of him in his library. Of course, Cook’s voyages are quite controversial because of subsequent colonisation and exploitation and subjugation of native populations. Musgrove addresses some of these issues. Banks was undoubtedly a colonialist and Musgrave puts his views in context as a man of his time, which is not an apology.
I very much enjoyed learning more about the early years of Kew, Banks’s vision and plans for the gardens and the plant hunters he would send on sometimes extremely perilous botanising trips around the world. As I write, Kew has reopened following the lockdown and I can’t wait to visit again. Quite a chunk of the book is dedicated to Banks’s association with Kew and it is worth reading the book for this alone, especially now that so many plant species are threatened and Kew (and Wakehurst) remain committed to preserving and propagating as many as possible.
If I had one small criticism, it is that the last part of the book reads a bit too much like an endless list and is a little dry. Still, I thought it very good overall.
My thanks to Yale University Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review Multifarous Mr Banks.
August 4, 2021
First, the print was very small and I did not know that when I ordered the book, buyer beware. The book is very dense and does not leave a jot or tittle out of the construction of Mr. Bank's biography. The book is extremely well researched and if you want to know about Joseph Banks, this is the book to read. It is easy to read; however, it reads more like a history book with lots of names, dates and Latin names for plants. The parts I found interesting were Mr. Bank's voyage with James Cook's on his first world exploration in 1768-1771. It was fascinating to read about the unexplored places, Terra del Fuego, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, the natives in each place and the plants they found, and more. It was also interesting to learn about England's position regarding colonization of the explored lands to be first to settle all they explored. Joseph Banks was a naturalist who explored the world before Charles Darwin; he collected numerous plant specimens and started an exchange program with other countries. Joseph Banks encouraged the agriculturalization of explored lands and sent trees, plants and seeds with settlers. He was also responsible for establishing the Royal Botanical Gardens at the Kew.
July 22, 2022
A very interesting subject and time period but a little bit of a slog at times with the extreme minutiae of detail and anecdotes about all the people within Banks’ orbit. It peaked early with the chapters about the Transit of Venus and the expeditions to Tahiti and Australia and New Zealand. I found the later segments on Kew and the Royal Society interesting but couldn’t quite get so much into the politics and manoeuvrings of the boards and councils as much as the seafaring of before. A nice crossover point into my other historical obsession at the end though – polar exploration and the hunt of the Northwest Passage. Sir John Franklin turned up briefly, with the ominous (1786-1847) beside his name.
November 5, 2022
Dry dry dry and bogged down with unnecessary facts, like salaries for every single person Banks encountered and their birth and death dates. And, writing "see above" or "see below" when he's citing another page. Also, "as we will see blah blah blah." Unnecessary. I learned nothing new about Joseph Banks from this book, except that this author's writing style is BORING. You're better off reading the "Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes.
July 22, 2023
Well researched for sure. Multifarious is a great description of Banks. Yes he made some amazing contributions to science and had a hand in many areas of natural history, botany and lots of other things. He believed in colonisation, which was a thing of the times, but reprehensible still. He was a rich man , and was able to concentrate on his interests freely, for better or worse. Taken as a whole, this was an interesting read and look into the times and at Joseph Banks in particular.
March 31, 2021
Musgrave's biography of Banks introduces the botanist Joseph Banks and how his early work in Botany helped define the horticultural sciences in Britain. While an important book about a fascinating and important subject, Musgrave's decision to present Banks' story in a thematic rather than a chronological order often made the book more plodding than it needed to be.
January 27, 2021
This was a well written account of the life of Joseph Banks. It was good to read about his activities after his voyage with Cook. It was also good to connect him with the other noted explorers and scientists of his time.
July 18, 2020
Rating of 4.60
September 23, 2020
Exhaustive and exhausting. Clearly well researched.
July 6, 2021
Nature is so inspiring!
Read
February 20, 2023v. interesting contrast to Fitzimon's book on Cook
June 14, 2025
Detailed biography of this important person of the advancement of the natural sciences. At times it is tedious. Throughout it is committed to telling all that is known about Mr. Banks.
July 3, 2020
I am ashamed to say that I had not heard of Joseph Banks, in spite of my interest not only in Enlightenment thinking but also in most of the subjects that occupied Banks throughout his exciting life.
After having been a bit confused by the first chapter, in which the Banks family history is set out, I discovered that the rest of this biography is a great read. It is something of a travelogue, has details of Bank's many contributions to the development of the natural sciences, especially botany, and touches on his involvement in the development of the British Empire and government policies at that time. There are fascinating small details of his various escapades and of his (now) more famous British and foreign contemporaries, all written in a very accessible style.
With many thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this absorbing book in exchange for an honest review.
After having been a bit confused by the first chapter, in which the Banks family history is set out, I discovered that the rest of this biography is a great read. It is something of a travelogue, has details of Bank's many contributions to the development of the natural sciences, especially botany, and touches on his involvement in the development of the British Empire and government policies at that time. There are fascinating small details of his various escapades and of his (now) more famous British and foreign contemporaries, all written in a very accessible style.
With many thanks to the publisher and to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this absorbing book in exchange for an honest review.
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