Born in London in 1743, Joseph Banks was twenty-five years old when he joined the Endeavour on its voyage to record the transit of Venus. Banks contributed 10,000 pounds, a very large sum at the time, from his own resources to undertake what was to become one of the world's most influential voyages of scientific discovery.A Fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, Joseph Banks was a keen and experienced botanist and observer. The journal he kept on the Endeavour, the Australian section of which is published In this book, is preserved in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales. Illustrated with original paintings, sketches and charts, The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks is an intricate and lively account of this momentous voyage along Australia's east coast.
Bibliography: pp. 113-114.