Coprosma Lucida: Engraving from Joseph Banks' Florilegium

SYDNEY PARKINSON and ANONYMOUS (artists)

‘Plate 471. Coprosma Lucida, Forster & G. Forster, Pelaphia laurifolia (Rubiaceae)’

London: Alecto Historical Editions in association with the British Museum (Natural History), 1980-1990

Engraving by Daniel MacKenzie, printed à la poupée by Alecto Historical Editions. 

Limited to 116 impressions, this no. 3 of 3 for exhibition and numbered ‘EP 3/3’





❧ COPROSMA LUCIDA, FORSTER & G. FORSTRE, PELAPHIA LAURIFOLIA (RUBIACEAE)

Species gathered in New Zealand
October 1769 – February/March 1770

After observing the transit of Venus from the Society Islands, Cook had instructions to search for a conjectured southern continent, and after about ten weeks at sea, HMB Endeavour approached New Zealand. Cook decided to circumnavigate and chart the North, and then the South Island. However, difficult coastal conditions and unpredictably hostile encounters with the Maori made only a limited number of landings possible for short periods of time. 

During the brief visits ashore, it was important for ‘Dr Solander and myself [Banks] to get as many green plants as possible of sea stock for finishing scetches &c, so an enormous number of all these articles came on board’ (Banks, The Endeavour Journal, 14 November 1769). They managed to gather ca 400 plant species, which ‘were more than Parkinson could portray adequately in the time available, especially as the death of [the landscape artist Alexander] Buchan at Tahiti had obliged him to draw much else. He accordingly adopted the expedient of making a rough sketch of the plant as a whole, thus recording the pose of leaves, flowers and fruit, and also of drawing, especially as these sketches could be associated with herbarium specimens. As noted above, the boxes were chests in which newly gathered plants were put and covered with damp cloths to keep them fresh while Parkinson drew them and Solander studied and described them’ (Stearn, ‘A Royal Society Appointment’, p. 106).

This shrub or tree, Coprosma Lucida (named after its strong smell), is common throughout New Zealand and generally known by the name of Shining Karamu. Historical accounts record its utility in medicinal preparations, e.g. infusions made from the bark, young shoots, or leaves for treating stomach ache, inflammation or kidney troubles; its culinary uses (particularly its berries and leaves); and the traditional role of its branches in ceremonies.



SPECIFICATIONS

The engravings are all of a very similar size, with platemarks of circa 457 x 305mm, and are printed on acid-free Somerset mould-made 300gsm paper manufactured by the Inveresk Paper Company. Each sheet is watermarked ‘AHE’, measures 724 x 556mm, and bears blind embossed stamps incorporating the publishers’ and printer’s chops, the copyright symbol, and date of publication; the initials of the individual printer, the plate number, and the edition number are recorded in pencil. The engravings are protected by a bifolium of acid-free Somerset mould-made 300gsm paper, cut to form a window mount on which is recorded the modern and Banksian names of the plant, the location and date of its collection and the name(s) of the artist and engraver. 

This print accompanied by a certificate of limitation.

This print is no longer available.




© Type & Forme and Alecto Historical Editions/Trustees of the Natural History Museum 2020