A Kangaroo.

Rare c.18th engraving of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo from one of the earliest written accounts written by Surgeon John White of the early settlement of Sydney Cove and its environs.

The description from surgeon John White’s Journal stated “This animal (probably from its size) was the principal one taken notice of in this island the only parts at first brought home were some skins and sculls and I was favoured with one of the sculls from Sir Joseph Banks…”

Modern binomial name: Macropus giganteus
First described: Shaw 1790
Distribution: Eastern Australia SA., Vic, TAS, NSW, QLD.

The first illustration of a “Kangaroo” drawn from an Australian species, is acknowledged as that drawn by George Stubb’s from a specimen collected at Endeavour River in 1770 by James Cook’s crew while the Endeavour was being careened. The subsequent engraving was published in 1773, in the official accounts of the voyage of the Endeavour. That iconic image captured the public’s imagination for over sixty years and was the first depiction of any Australian animal in western art. The first sighting of a kangaroo in fact was an earlier one, by Francis Pelsaert of &quotthe teeming &quotcats&quot on 15th November, 1629 on the Abrolhos Islands where the Batavia had been wrecked. The first illustration of a Macropod was made prior to the Stubb’s illustration, titled ‘Kangaron’ and made on 15th November 1629 by Matthys Pool and described by Cornelis de Bruyn in &quotReizen over Moskovie door Persie en Indie&quot, 1714 but the animal depicted was not an Australian species but Thylogale brunii (Dusky Pademelon), a Filander native to New Guinea.

From John White’s, Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales

References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976: 97
Hill, J. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. San Diego 1974: 1858.
Nissen, C. Die illustrierten Vogelbucher. Stuttgart 1995 ZBI: 4390.
Abbey, J.R. Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860. London 1972: 605.
Wantrup, J. Australian Rare Books. Sydney 1987: 17
Crittenden, V. A Bibliography Of The First Fleet. ACT 1982: 248.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 87340
State Library New South Wales: Call Number: MRB/Q991/2A2
National Gallery Victoria: Accession Number2012.31
State Library Victoria: CCF 919.44 W58
National Museum of Australia: Object number 2007.0035.0001