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ACKXOWLEDG:\rENTS AND AN APPEAL. 
The Committee of the Banks’ Memorial Fund feel that the memory 
of the greatest benefactor of early Australia is worthy of some enduring 
recognition, and a statue in Sydney, in the highest style of art, has 
been suggested. Botany Bay, the only place in modern New South 
Wales visited by Cook and Banks, is a suburb of Sydney. 
My principal contribution to the Banks’ Memorial Fund is the 
present work, which has been a labour of love for some years past, 
and I trust that the general ignorance which prevails in regard to- 
Sir Joseph Banks may be dispelled to some extent by perusal of its 
pages. 
I have spared no pains to verify statements, consulting original 
documents wherever possible. I have tried to be an impartial historian, 
and have adopted the plan of quoting my authorities literally, instead of 
translating them into a running commentary or essay of my o\to. 
I am especially indebted to Bladen’s “ Historical Records of New 
South Wales,” and acknowledgments of that and other works will be 
found throughout the text. 
It is reasonable for people to say : “ We know Sir Joseph Banks 
chiefly as a great name, but our knowledge of him is vague ; we cannot 
be expected to contribute to a memorial of him without learning more 
about him.” 
To be quite frank, the work has only two objects — to disseminate 
information concerning Australia’s greatest early friend, and to suggest 
that my readers may be pleased to open their purse-strings for the 
purpose of establishing a memorial to him. Bearing in mind Banks’ 
active sympathies with those who were the reverse of rich, it is hoped 
that the small subscriptions of those who are not well-to-do may not 
be withheld. 
