An important collection of printed and original manuscript and pictorial material relating to the two great French expeditions to Australia, the 1800 voyage under Captain Nicolas Baudin and the 1817 voyage of Captain Louis-Claude de Saulces de Freycinet. Louis de Freycinet is the figure who unites these two important voyages: he sailed with Baudin as a junior officer, quickly establishing himself as one of the great hydrographers, but also learning the demands of scientific exploration on the remote coastlines of Australia. He has a further claim on our attention, because he was ultimately the driving force behind the substantial official accounts of both voyages, work which would consume him for the rest of his life.
