His continuing interest in botanical illustration led him to produce work on both historical and contemporary artists, including the "Florilegium" of Captain Cook and Joseph Banks from their first voyage to the Pacific on the "Endeavour", the similar account of Ferdinand Bauer's later botanical expedition to Australia with Matthew Flinders on the "Investigator" (1801–1803), and the work of illustrator Franz Bauer (the brother of Ferdinand). Stearn's studies of Ferdinand Bauer's "Flora Graeca" (1806–1840) enabled him to combine his passion for Greece with that of illustration. Other illustrators of this period that he wrote about included William Hooker.