Samuel Daniell is the first biography of the life and work of one of the most accomplished, yet least-known artists from the era of British exploration.

Daniell travelled around southern Africa between 1800 and 1803 and lived in Ceylon until his death in 1811 at a young age. While most sketches of this period served as informative notes for later prints and paintings, Daniell’s vivid sketches, drawings and watercolours are individuated and accomplished art works. His representations of people of colour are remarkable for their perceptiveness and are perhaps unmatched in their sensitivity in the colonial era.

Daniell also produced many drawings and paintings of the animals of southern Africa which are noteworthy for their accuracy. His massive folio African Scenery and Animals was one of the grandest books of the age of aquatint, and its prints are iconic in South African art history.

His biography is a fascinating example of how art contributed to the accumulation of scientific knowledge and the extension of British imperial power.

Daniell’s drawings are widely scattered, and mostly unpublished. No letters or notebooks have survived. This biography reconstructs his life and travels by bringing together all the known works by Daniell from collections across the world.