Cirrus@Austlit

'The experience and impact of Bennelong on the London scene is compared to Omai, a Tahitian predecessor who had visited the court 20 years. Bennelong's role as an object of curiosity. How he compared with Omai in this regard is hard to estimate. There could be some truth in saying that while Omai was taken up and cultivated, Bennelong was politely inspected. He seems not to have excited anyone's philosophical, literary or artistic imagination, and there is certainly nothing on record comparable with Granville Sharp's discourses with Omai (Hoare 1820:220-7).No portrait of Bennelong in London has survived, nor evidence that one was ever made. Perhaps the lack of interest merely reflects how readily the exotic is betrayed by familiarity. All the same, some contrasts between the two men and their contexts are worth considering.'  (Publication abstract)