Voyages of the South Seas: in search of Terres Australes

While in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the English were exploring the Pacific Ocean and establishing a penal colony on the east coast of Australia the French  also sent scientific expeditions into the region. In this book Danielle Clode explores the voyages of a number of French explorers including Bougainville, Laperouse, dEntrecasteaux, Baudin, Freycinct and Dumont d'Urville between the years 1768-1828. The names of some of these explorers are commemorated as place names in Australia and and other countries in the region.

The author examines the reasons for the voyages and the discoveries made. Her writing provides different perspectives of a voyage by showing the significance of the voyage for different people. For example the first section on the explorer Laperouse imagines the thought of Louis XVI as he is about to be executed wondering about the fate of the explorer and his ship as news of the expedition was long overdue. The next person imagined in this section is the botanist Labillardiere  who wanted to amass a collection to rival the British botanist, Joseph Banks. The next person is d'Entrecasteaux who was commissioned with the task of searching for Laperouse in 1791. The journals of d'Entrecasteaux were completed and published, after his death by Rossel. There is also a section on the thoughts of Joseph Banks about the French expedions undertaken at the time. This style of writing by the author provides an interesting insight into French explorations in the Pacific, adding another layer to nineteenth century history in this region.

The wasp and the orchid

This book by Danielle Clode has the subtitle: The remarkable life of Australian naturalist Edith Coleman.

Edith Coleman was born in Surrey England on 29 July 1874. Her parents were Henry Harms and Charlotte Edmunds and Edith was the sixth of seven children. The family left England for Australia in August 1887. Edith became well known in the 1920s for her writing in scientific journals and talks to the Field Naturalist Club of Victoria about Australian native orchids. In 1949 she was awarded the Australian Naural History Medallion. Edith was well known during her lifetime in the World of Science but after her death in 1951 her work tended to be forgotten.

When working in the basement of the Museum of Victoria some years ago, Danielle Clode rediscovered the work of Edith Coleman and decided to write about her life. Edith's story has been compiled from journal articles - particularly the Victorian Naturalist -  newspaper and magazine articles and examples of her research. The author has constructed what she could of Edith's story from these sources and with the help of members of Edith's family. Each chapter contains one of Edith's articles, a fictional account of part of Edith's life as well as a reconstruction of the life and work of Edith Colman pieced together from a range of sources.

For much of her life Edith and her husband, James Coleman, lived in a house and garden, Walsham in Blackburn. James was involved with bicycles, motor bikes and motor cars and was a co-founder of the Automobile Club of Victoria (later the RACV). Edith and James had two daughters.

The book provides descriptions of Edith's work with orchids including photographs of many species. At the back of the book are detailed end notes, an index of names and an index of species.

Edith Coleman (1874-1951) - ADB