I was just in Singapore and the National Museum of Singapore has published a fabulous book entitled “Natural History Drawings, the complete William Farquhar Collection.” For the first time ever, the 477 drawings of the flora and fauna of the Malay Peninsula commissioned by William Farquhar when he was the British Resident and Commandant of Melaka from 1803 to 1818, have been published in one volume.
In 1826, these drawings were donated by Farquhar to the Royal Asiatic Society in London, which then auctioned them for sale in 1993. A Singaporean, Mr Goh Geok Khim, purchased them and then presented the full set of drawings to Singapore’s National Heritage Board in 1996.
Museum Volunteers, JMM 