The art of the Victorian Exploring Expedition

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Title: The art of the Victorian Exploring Expedition
Author(s): Ninnis, Elizabeth
Abstract: Two small and seemingly insignificant manuscripts were left unrecognised for over a hundred years following their creation during and shortly after the ill-fated Victorian Exploring Expedition of 1860-61. One is a collection of paintings, drawings and notes, carefully prepared during the expedition by Ludwig Becker, the 52-year-old German who was employed as the official artIst, naturalist and geologist. Many of his papers had been forwarded to the Royal Society in stages as the group journeyed northwards. When Becker died part-way through the expedition, the remainder of his work was returned to Melbourne, with some additional notes and identification. The other is a detailed journal of narrative and descriptive writing, outlining the experience and observations of Hermann Beckler, the 32-year-old German employed as doctor and botanist for the expedition. As one of the few survivors, he returned to Germany in 1862, where he wrote up his notes on the Journey to Central Australia, intended for publication and illustrated with chosen examples of his own drawings and paintings.
Publication type: Book chapter
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Design
Source: Burke and Wills: the scientific legacy of the Victorian Exploring Expedition / E. B. Joyce and D. A. McCann (eds.), Appendix E, pp. 312-327
Publication year: 2011
FOR Code(s): 190102 Art History; 210303 Australian History (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History); 220206 History and Philosophy of Science (incl. Non-historical Philosophy of Science)
Keyword(s): Artworks; Becker, Ludwig (1808-1861); Beckler, Hermann (1828-1914); Manuscripts; Victorian Exploring Expedition
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
ISBN: 9780643103320, 0643103325
Publisher URL: http://www.publish.csiro.au/pid/6733.htm
Peer reviewed