Botanical Investigation of New South Wales 1811-1880: An examination of the means by which botanical knowledge of the area now known as New South Wales was gained and recorded during the seventy years from the publication of Robert Brown's Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae to the second year after the completion of George Bentham's Flora Australiensis

Abstract

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the means by which botanical knowledge of the area now known as New South Wales was gained and recorded during the seventy-odd years between the publication of the two classic works of Australian botanical literature--Robert Brown's 'Prodromus', published in 1810, and George Bentham's 'Flora Australiensis' of which the final volume was published in 1878. The course of the investigation is indicated by a series of problems which form the bases of the enquiry made during the subsequent five chapters. These problems demand enquiry into the scientific, political, economic and utilitarian factors which directly or indirectly promoted the botanical investigation of New South Wales during this period; the same problems also involve enquiry into the personalities and personal relationships associated with that investigation.