Description

Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière, a botanist and doctor of medicine, participated in the d’Entrecasteaux expedition, which circumnavigated Australia and investigated surrounding islands for traces of La Pérouse. Labillardière, an important figure in early Australian science, authored the first extensive monograph on Australian botany.

The expedition spent months on the coasts of Western Australia and made long visits to Tasmania, leading to the naming of Recherche Archipelago and Recherche Bay. Labillardière’s account, one of the few eighteenth-century accounts of Australian exploration, was published in the same century, with the commander’s papers appearing in 1808.

The 1817 reissued Atlas volume, with descriptions and illustrations of Tasmania, Tonga, New Caledonia, and New Guinea, includes notable works by the official artist Piron and botanical plates by Redouté. It features the first large depiction of the black swan and three bird studies by Audibert.

Despite political discord during the French Revolution, Labillardière miraculously returned to Europe with his specimens, thanks to the support of Banks, who ensured their safe passage to France.