A Foreign Country: The Platypus Journal and the Felon Press

The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science (1841–49) was the first scientific journal in the Australian colonies, and it mirrored similar British periodicals that flourished at the time, creating new scientific communities and general readers. Sponsored by Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Franklin, The Tasmanian Journal was driven by the enthusiasm and ambitions of Lady Jane Franklin, among others. Mapping its elite, scientific contributors reveals an interconnected, mobile group of people and ideas that were critical in colonial and global networks of knowledge. This talk also considers the role of the free press, Indigenous people and women, as part of the emergence of a distinctive colonial print culture.