Description

First Edition of Cook’s Last Voyage: This is a first edition of the detailed narrative of Captain Cook’s last voyage. Extensively illustrated with beautiful engravings by John Webber, this publication was immensely popular, with copies sometimes literally read to pieces. Forbes notes its importance as a record of the North Pacific exploration, comparable to Cook’s first two voyages for the South Pacific.

Voyage Highlights: The Resolution and Discovery traveled extensively through the Pacific, visiting Tasmania, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Tahiti, and making famous landfall at the Hawaiian Islands, named the Sandwich Islands by Cook. After exploring the Northwest coast of America and returning to Hawaii, Cook was killed in a skirmish. Command passed to Clerke, and then to John Gore. News of Cook’s death reached England through overland reports before the ships’ return, marking the end of an era.

Publication Details: Unlike the first two voyages, this publication was grander, with three text volumes containing lesser illustrations and 63 more important illustrations and maps in a separate folio-sized atlas volume. Webber’s romantic views of the Pacific remain the most evocative early portrayals of the islands, fostering the notion of island paradise for European readers.

Popularity: The first edition sold out within three days at the then substantial price of four pounds fourteen shillings and sixpence, with copies later changing hands for up to ten guineas.