Visualising scientific knowledge in the nineteenth century: scientific illustrations of Australian fauna, 1797-1901

Situated within the field of environmental humanities, this thesis investigates the use of scientific illustrations to interpret, categorise, and disseminate early knowledge about native Australian marsupials and monotremes (Tasmanian Devil, wombat, Platypus) from 1797 to 1901. It examines how scientific illustration emerged as a distinctive practice, aided by the increasing sophistication of publishing techniques, which in turn, informed the development of new codes and conventions. It demonstrates that these instances were essential for the rationalisation and development of natural history under Enlightenment ideals, highlighting the intersection of art and science and the shifts in the ways that these images operate as scientific knowledge. By analysing the role of scientific illustrations from the perspective of a practicing scientific illustrator, this research employs historical, critical, and visual content analysis to evaluate zoological images within the socio- political, economic, and intellectual contexts of the early modern period. Utilising a visual extension of critical visual methodology (CVM), this study provides historical depth to sociological approaches to scientific illustration. It argues that the categorisation of Australian animals by these illustrations, as well as their integration into published knowledge, reflects the reigning colonial manifestations of Australia's invasion by the British empire.