In 1810, he published the results of his collecting in his famous "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen", the first systematic account of the Australian flora. Over half of New Zealand's orchid genera were first described in the work. That year, he succeeded Jonas C. Dryander as Sir Joseph Banks' librarian, and on Banks' death in 1820 Brown inherited his library and herbarium. This was transferred to the British Museum in 1827, and Brown was appointed Keeper of the Banksian Botanical Collection.