Email: jean.fornasiero@adelaide.edu.au
Professor Emerita Jean Fornasiero, of the University of Adelaide, has long-standing research interests related to the history of ideas in nineteenth-century France, encompassing principally the period from the Revolution to the collapse of the July Monarchy. These interests extend to the work of the Institut de France and its influence on French exploration and discovery, particularly through the work of the Baudin expedition. In collaboration with John West-Sooby, she has focused on the historiography of the Baudin expedition to Australia and its contribution to science and the arts. She is the co-author, with John West-Sooby and Peter Monteath, of Encountering Terra Australis. The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders 1800-1803. In July 2005, this book was awarded the Frank Broeze Memorial Maritime History Prize and in 2010 it appeared in revised edition. Jean Fornasiero was awarded the Palmes académiques by the French Government in 2003, becoming an Officer in 2015. She has presented papers at international conferences on the Baudin expedition, including the 32nd Annual conference of the Society for Nineteenth-Century French Studies, University of Bloomington, Indiana, October 2006, the conference on Scientific Voyaging sponsored by the Greenwich Maritime Museum, the Royal Society of London and the University of Cambridge held in London in July 2008, and the 2009 conference on Baudin’s life and voyages held at the Royal Academy of Brussels. In collaboration with Vivonne Thwaites, she prepared the catalogue for the exhibition held in Hobart in 2010 on the marine works of Lesueur, artist of the Baudin voyage. In 2011 (with John West-Sooby), she completed a book on François Péron and his ‘spy’ document on the colony of New South Wales.
Publications on the Baudin expedition
Books
With J. West-Sooby, French Designs on New South Wales, a critical edition of the Memoir on the British Settlements in New Holland by François Péron, Adelaide, Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 2014.
With P. Monteath & J. West-Sooby, Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders, 1800-1803, Kent Town, Wakefield Press, 2004, 411p.
Revised edition 2010, 426p.
Frank Broeze Memorial Maritime History Prize 2005
Edited Volumes
With J. West-Sooby, ‘Roaming freely throughout the universe’: Nicolas Baudin’s Voyage to Australia and the Pursuit of Science, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2021.
Reflections of a Philosophical Voyager. Letter from Nicolas Baudin to Philip Gidley King, 24 December 1802, translated and edited, with an introduction and notes, Adelaide, Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 2016.
With L. Lawton & J. West-Sooby, The Art of Science: Nicolas Baudin’s Voyagers 1800-1804, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2016.
With C. Mrowa-Hopkins, Explorations and Encounters in French, Adelaide, University of Adelaide Press, 2010.
With P. Cowley & M. Sankey, The Baudin Expedition 1800-1804. Texts, Contexts and Subtexts, special number of Australian Journal of French Studies, 41(2), 2004, 206p.
Exhibition Catalogue
With V. Thwaites, Littoral, catalogue of the exhibition which opened in Hobart, Carnegie Gallery, April 2010, and which featured the marine works of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and the responses of six contemporary Australian artists, April 2010, Adelaide, 5 Star Print, 2010.
Articles and Chapters
“Nicolas Baudin, François Péron and the Changing of the Guard”, in J. Fornasiero & J. West-Sooby (eds), ‘Roaming freely throughout the universe’: Nicolas Baudin’s Voyage to Australia and the pursuit of science, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2021, pp. 1-7.
“Jacques-Félix Emmanuel Hamelin: A Reluctant Scientific Voyager?”, in J. Fornasiero & John West-Sooby (eds), ‘Roaming freely throughout the universe’: Nicolas Baudin’s Voyage to Australia and the pursuit of science, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2021, pp. 249-266.
With J. West-Sooby, “Expédition Baudin – Science et politique. Les enjeux politiques du Voyage aux Terres australes“, Australie / Le Havre – l’intimité d’un lien, Paris, MkF éditions, 2021, pp. 22-27.
“An Odyssey through Time: Nicolas Baudin’s Long Haul”, Humanities Australia, The Journal of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, 10, 2019, pp. 70-83.
With J. West-Sooby, “Towards a New Historiography: Re-reading the Archives of the Baudin Expedition“, French–Australian Shared Histories, 2018 Symposium, Imagination, Exploration, Memory, Canberra, National Archives of Australia, 2019: http://naa.gov.au/naaresources/documents/french-symposium2018/JeanFornasiero-and-JohnWest-Sooby_English.pdf. French version : “Retour aux archives: un nouveau regard sur l’expédition Baudin“ (co-author: John West-Sooby), Colloque Histoires partagées France-Australie,Symposium 2018, Imagination, Exploration, Mémoire, Canberra, National Archives of Australia, 2019.
With J. West-Sooby, “A Contested Coast? The Baudin-Flinders Encounter of April 1802”, in R. Foster & P. Sendziuk (eds), Foundational Fictions in South Australian History, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2018, pp. 13-27.
With H. Gray & N. Bigourdan, “Selected Readings: Recent Works on French-Australian Maritime History”, The Great Circle, 39, 2, 2017, pp. 149-155.
With J. West-Sooby, “Matthew Flinders through French Eyes : Nicolas Baudin’s Lessons from Encounter Bay, Journal of Pacific History, 2017, pp. 1-14.
With J. West-Sooby, “The French Revolution and the Politics of Scientific Voyaging”, French Australian Review, 64, Winter 2017, pp. 3-18.
With A. Black, P. Horton & Justin Jansen, “The ‘new and singular bird’ of St Peter Island”, South Australian Ornithologist, 2017, pp. 1-10.
With J. West-Sooby, “Voyages et déplacements des savoirs. Les expéditions de Nicolas Baudin entre Révolution et Empire”, inJean-Luc Chappey & Maria-Pia Donato (eds), Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 382, 2016, pp. 23-45; English version: “Voyaging and shifting knowledge. The expeditions of Nicolas Baudin from Revolution to Empire”, “Travels, travellers and the transfer of knowledge from Révolution to Empire”, Annales historiques de la Révolution française, 385, 3, 2016, pp. 23-46.
“Reflections of a Philosophical Voyager” in J. Fornasiero (ed. and trans.), Reflections of a Philosophical Voyager: Nicolas Baudin’s Letter to Philip Gidley King, 24 December 1802, Adelaide, Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 2016, pp. 5-16.
With A. Black & R. Schodde, “East or West: to which subspecies does the type specimen of the Galah, Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) (Aves: Cacatuidae), belong?”, Zootaxa, 4067, 4, 2016, pp. 489–493.
With J. West-Sooby, “The Baudin Expedition: Glory, Disgrace and Redemption”, in J. Fornasiero, L. Lawton & J. West-Sooby (eds), The Art of Science: Baudin’s Voyagers 1800-1804, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2016, pp. 33-46.
“A Cartographic Statement: Lesueur’s representation of Sydney”, in J. Fornasiero, L. Lawton & J. West-Sooby (eds), The Art of Science: Nicolas Baudin’s Voyagers 1800-1804, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2016, pp. 94-95.
With L. Lawton & J. West-Sooby, “Unlocking Mysteries: Charting and Naming the Australian Coasts” in J. Fornasiero, L. Lawton & J. West-Sooby (eds), The Art of Science: Baudin’s Voyagers 1800-1804, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2016, pp. 101-119.
With A. Black, P. Horton & J. Jansen, “The mystery bird of St Peter Island”, in J. Fornasiero, L. Lawton & J. West-Sooby (eds), The Art of Science: Nicolas Baudin’s Voyagers 1800-1804, Mile End, Wakefield Press, 2016, p. 118.
“Framing New South Wales or Framing a Narrative? A Representation of Sydney by Charles-Alexandre Lesueur”, in N. Edwards, B. McCann & P. Poiana (eds), Framing French Culture, Adelaide, Adelaide University Press, 2015, pp. 81-102.
With J. West-Sooby, “Cross-cultural Inquiry through Art and Performance: the Baudin Expedition to Australia, 1800-1804”, in K. Darian-Smith & P. Edmonds (eds), Conciliation on Colonial Frontiers: Conflict, Performance, and Commemoration in Australia and the Pacific Rim, New York/Abingdon, UK, Routledge, Studies in Cultural History series, 34, 2015, pp. 17-35.
With M. Sankey & J. West-Sooby, “Nicolas Baudin (1754-1803): From Seafarer to Philosophical Traveller”, in I. Barko & E. Berti (eds), French Lives in Australia, North Melbourne, Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2015, pp. 36-56.
With J. West-Sooby, “The Acquisitive Eye? French Observations in the Pacific from Bougainville to Baudin“ (co-author: John West-Sooby), in J. West-Sooby (ed.), Discovery and Empire: the French in the South Seas, Adelaide, University of Adelaide Press, 2013, pp. 69-97.
With J. West-Sooby, “Cartography as Narrative: the Maps of the Baudin Expedition”, in Rupert Gerritsen & Peter Reynders (eds), The Freycinet Map of 1811: the 200th Anniversary of the Publication of the First Map of Australia, Canberra, Australia on the Map, 2012, pp. 20-32.
“’Strangers on the Shore’: Musical Exchanges in Terra Australis, 1802“, Explorations, 50, 2011, pp. 4-15.
“Deux observateurs de l’homme aux antipodes: Nicolas Baudin et François Péron“, in M. Jangoux (ed.), Portés par l’air du temps, les voyages de Nicolas Baudin, Etudes sur le XVIIIe siècle, 38, 2010, pp. 157-170.
“Charles-Alexandre Lesueur: An Art of the Littoral“, in J. Fornasiero & V. Thwaites (eds), Littoral, Adelaide, 5 Star Print, 2010, pp. 12-19.
“Music from the Littoral“, in J. Fornasiero & V. Thwaites (eds), Littoral, Adelaide, 5 Star Print, 2010, pp. 30-35.
With J. West-Sooby, “Doing it by the Book: Breaking the Reputation of Nicolas Baudin“, in J. Fornasiero & C. Mrowa-Hopkins (eds), Explorations and Encounters in French, Adelaide, University of Adelaide Press, 2010, pp. 135-164.
“Of Rivalry and Reputation: Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders”, in S.M. Rivière, & Kumari R. Issur (eds), Baudin-Flinders dans l’océan Indien, Voyages, découvertes, rencontre/Travels, Discoveries, Encounter, Paris, l’Harmattan, 2007, pp. 157-177.
With P. Monteath & J. West-Sooby, “Old Quarrels and New Approaches: Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin“, South Australian Geographical Journal, 106, 2007, pp. 1-15.
With P. Monteath & J. West-Sooby, “Hydrographic Reputations: Matthew Flinders, Nicolas Baudin and South Australia’s Unknown Coast“, Hydrographic Journal, 121, 2006, pp. 17-23.
With J. West-Sooby, “A Cordial Encounter? The Meeting of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders (8-9 April 1802)“, French History and Civilization: Papers from the George Rudé Seminar, 1, 2005, pp. 53-61.
With J. West-Sooby, “An Appetite for Discovery. The Culinary Adventures of Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin in Terra Australis“, in A. L. Martin & B. Santich (eds), Gastronomic Encounters, Brompton, SA, East Street Publications, 2004, pp. 21-34.
With J. West-Sooby, “Notes in the Margin: Bougainville, Freycinet and the Baudin Expedition“, Australian Journal of French Studies, 41, 2, 2004, pp. 186-193.
With P. Cowley & M. Sankey, “The Baudin Expedition in Review: Old Quarrels and New Approaches“, Australian Journal of French Studies, 41, 2, 2004, pp. 4-14.
With J. West-Sooby, “Baudin’s Books“, Australian Journal of French Studies, 39, 2, 2002, pp. 215-249.
With J. West-Sooby, “Taming the Unknown: The Representation of Terra Australis by the Baudin Expedition 1801-1803“, in A. Chittleborough, G.Dooley, B. Glover and R. Hosking (eds), Alas, for the Pelicans! Flinders, Baudin and Beyond. Essays and Poems, Kent Town, Wakefield Press, 2002, pp. 59-80.
Translations
With J. West-Sooby, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, Painter and Naturalist: A Forgotten Treasure (English Translation of Cédric Crémière & Gabrielle Baglione, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, peintre et naturaliste, un trésor oublié, Paris Conti, 2009), Paris, MkF éditions, 2016.
With J. West-Sooby, “The Artists of the Baudin Expedition: Charles-Alexandre Lesueur and Nicolas-Martin Petit“ (English translation of J. Bonnemains, “Les Artistes de l’expédition Baudin: Charles-Alexandre Lesueur et Nicolas-Martin Petit“), in Sarah Thomas (ed.), The Encounter 1802. Art of the Flinders and Baudin Voyages, Adelaide, Art Gallery of South Australia, 2002, pp. 126-138.
“Historical perspective. Kangaroo Island, 1803 – François Péron“ (translation of chapter 24 of Voyage aux Terres australes by François Péron & Louis de Freycinet, t. II, 1807), in M. Tyler et al. (eds), Natural History of Kangaroo Island, Adelaide, Royal Society of South Australia, 1979, pp. 177-184 (2nd ed, 2002, chapter 17, pp. 173-177).
Dictionary entry
“Charles-Alexandre Lesueur”, French Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2018, online
Book Reviews
“Book Review of K. Morgan, Australia Circumnavigated: the Voyage of Matthew Flinders in HMS Investigator, 1801-1803”, International Journal of Maritime History, 29, 3, 2017, pp. 689-692.
Review of Danielle Clode, Voyages to the South Seas. In Search of Terres Australes, Carlton, Vic, Miegunyah Press – Melbourne University Press, 2007, in Carnet austral, 27, September 2007, pp. 19-20.