Baudin in Australian Waters: The Artwork of the French Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands, 1800-1804

Captain Nicolas Baudin's early 19th-century voyage of scientific discovery to Australia is a little-known event in French and Australian history. Yet that voyage played an important part in the history of Australian and Pacific colonization, and in the long story of worldwide scientific exploration. Departing Le Havre in 1800, Baudin's expedition comprised two ships--the Naturaliste and the Geographe--and 238 men, including 22 scientists. For most of the next three-and-a half years they travelled along the western and southern coasts of Australia, charting the coastline and landscape, studying the habits of Aborigines, and collecting specimens of the region's indigenous animal life. This book is a collection of the ethnographical and zoological drawings and paintings resulting from Baudin's voyage. Now housed at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Le Havre, these rare and beautiful illustrations--over 300 in all--depict a wide range of human and animal life, from Aboriginal rites, habits, and homes, to sponges, fish, birds, and mammals, including a number of now-extinct species. With a number of introductory essays providing essential historical and scientific background, Baudin in Australian Waters will prove invaluable for anyone with an interest in French and Australian history, anthropology, natural history, exploration, and art.Bonnemains, Jacqueline is the author of 'Baudin in Australian Waters: The Artwork of the French Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Lands, 1800-1804', published 1988 under ISBN 9780195547870 and ISBN 019554787X.