Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 54 9 Dec 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Commemorative Medals, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Highly Important Fellow's silver ticket or pass named to Sir Joseph Banks oval silver ticket or pass, to Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), explorer, naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences, in five lines, ROYAL SOCIETY EDINBURGH INSTITUTED 1783, rev. engraved lengthwise with recipient's name, SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BART. F.R.S. (LOND.) 1792, 37 x 29mm. (D & W 126-127, 196, 204, 205; Withers 2644; CP 143.30), very fine and an exceptional rarity
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS, was, at the time of his election, President of the Royal Society in London. Aged 23 he joined HMS Niger, Constantine Phipps's expedition and under the command of Sir Thomas Adams, to survey of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador travelling as the ship's botanist. Banks collected many species of plants and animals previously unknown to Western science. Two weeks after his return he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He next took part in Captain James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific (1768–1771), on HMS Endeavor, which took him and his assistant and fellow botanist Daniel Solander to New Zealand and Australia, by way of Brazil and Tahiti. His fame immediately and firmly established on his return, he advised King George III on scientific matters and especially on the establishment of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Banks advocated British settlement in New South Wales and the wider colonisation of Australia. It was his idea to establish Botany Bay as a reception area for British convicts. He continued to advise the British government on all Australian matters and became a Privy Councillor. He was knighted in 1781, elected an honorary Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and of the Wernerian Natural History Society. Around 80 species of plants bear his name from the genus Banksia. He was the leading founder of the African Association, a Trustee of the British Museum and a member of the Society of Dilettanti, the group of worthies that helped establish the Royal Academy. Banks was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 23 January, 1792, and was proposed by Joseph Black, James Hutton, and William Wright.
The silver member's admission tickets, each engraved with a name and the date of election to Fellowship are now extremely rare and the present group, including exceptional association pieces, is quite unprecedented in recent auction history.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh was created in 1783 by Royal Charter for "the advancement of learning and useful knowledge". It started with a small group of 178 founder members and the early meetings were held in the College Library of the University of Edinburgh.
For Sir Joseph Banks's tickets to the Royal Institution in London see lots 2133 and 2134
(5000-8000 GBP)
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS, was, at the time of his election, President of the Royal Society in London. Aged 23 he joined HMS Niger, Constantine Phipps's expedition and under the command of Sir Thomas Adams, to survey of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador travelling as the ship's botanist. Banks collected many species of plants and animals previously unknown to Western science. Two weeks after his return he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He next took part in Captain James Cook's first voyage to the Pacific (1768–1771), on HMS Endeavor, which took him and his assistant and fellow botanist Daniel Solander to New Zealand and Australia, by way of Brazil and Tahiti. His fame immediately and firmly established on his return, he advised King George III on scientific matters and especially on the establishment of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Banks advocated British settlement in New South Wales and the wider colonisation of Australia. It was his idea to establish Botany Bay as a reception area for British convicts. He continued to advise the British government on all Australian matters and became a Privy Councillor. He was knighted in 1781, elected an honorary Fellow of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and of the Wernerian Natural History Society. Around 80 species of plants bear his name from the genus Banksia. He was the leading founder of the African Association, a Trustee of the British Museum and a member of the Society of Dilettanti, the group of worthies that helped establish the Royal Academy. Banks was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 23 January, 1792, and was proposed by Joseph Black, James Hutton, and William Wright.
The silver member's admission tickets, each engraved with a name and the date of election to Fellowship are now extremely rare and the present group, including exceptional association pieces, is quite unprecedented in recent auction history.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh was created in 1783 by Royal Charter for "the advancement of learning and useful knowledge". It started with a small group of 178 founder members and the early meetings were held in the College Library of the University of Edinburgh.
For Sir Joseph Banks's tickets to the Royal Institution in London see lots 2133 and 2134
(5000-8000 GBP)