| AdminHistory | Ferdinand Lucas Bauer (1760-1826) was an Austrian botanical illustrator.
Bauer was born in Feldsberg on 20 January 1760, the youngest son of Lucas Bauer who was the court painter to the Prince of Liechtenstein. Following the death of his father in c. 1761, he was placed in the custody of Norbert Boccius (1729-1806) along with 2 of his brothers, Joseph Anton and Franz [also known as Francis] Andreas. Boccius was a physician and botanist who worked as the Prior of the monastery at Feldsberg. Bauer became interested in nature and at age 15 began to contribute miniature drawings to Boccius' collection. In 1780, Franz and Ferdinand were sent to Vienna to work under the direction of Nikolaus von Jacquin, an eminent botanist and Director of the Royal Botanical Garden at Schönbrunn Palace. There, Bauer was introduced to the Linnean taxonomic system, the field of microscopy, and took lessons in landscape painting.
In mid-1786, on the recommendation of Jacquin, Bauer accompanied the Oxford Professor John Sibthorp as an artist on a field trip to Greece and Asia Minor. They returned to England in December 1787 with over 1,500 sketches of plants, animals, birds and landscapes, some of which appeared in 'Flora Graeca'. Bauer later travelled to Australia with Matthew Flinders as botanical draughtsman having been selected by Sir Joseph Banks and Bauer worked under the direction of botanist Robert Brown. He travelled in Australia and on his return to England, brought with him 11 cases of drawings containing 1,542 Australian plants, 180 Norfolk Island plants, and over 300 animals. Bauer worked on the Illustrations for 'Florae Novae Hollandiae' for five years, doing all the engraving himself and also contributed 10 plates to Flinders' 'Voyage to Terra Australis'. He died on 17 March 1826. |
| Description | Comprises 8 letters from Ferdinand Bauer to his brother, Francis Bauer, dated 21 October 1801 - 7 March 1804, and written whilst on board the Investigator [the vessel Ferdinand Bauer sailed in with Captain Flinders to Australia].
Includes a letter of transmittal [MS/634a] from J. Lhotsky [Bauer's biographer]. Also includes a photocopy of a letter by Ferdinand Bauer, dated 20 July 1802, from the National Bibli. Wien, and presented by H.W.Lack in 1993. |