Contents | Cook's First Voyage (1768-1771) | Cook's Second Voyage (1772-1775) | Cook's Third Voyage (1776-1779)
Facts and Artifacts | Satire Based on Cook's Voyages, Part One | Satire based on Cook's Voyages, Part Two
The Death of Captain Cook
UCLA Library Department of Special Collections
Illustration from A Journal of a Voyage, London, 1784 (item no. 10) |
Another purpose of the voyage was to explore the South Seas to determine if an inhabitable continent existed in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere. Upon leaving Tahiti, Cook named and charted the Society Islands and then continued southwest to New Zealand. His circumnavigation and exploration of that country also resulted in a detailed survey. Cook proceeded to Australia, where he charted the eastern coast for 2,000 miles, naming the area New South Wales. As a result of these surveys, both Australia and New Zealand were annexed by Great Britain. In addition to these explorations, the Endeavour returned to England without a single death from scurvy among its men, an historic feat at the time. The combination of these accomplishments brought Cook prominence, promotion, and the opportunity to lead further expeditions.
The first printed account of the first voyage under Cook's command was this anonymously published work. Surreptitiously edited and printed by Thomas Becket only two months after the expedition returned to England, it was published almost two years before the official account by John Hawkesworth appeared. As described on the title page, the book related "various occurrences of the voyage, with descriptions of several new discovered countries in the southern hemisphere." The work also provided much information about the native inhabitants encountered on the voyage, including "a concise vocabulary of the language of Otahitee" [Tahiti]. The text was quickly disseminated with a second English edition published in Dublin as well as translations into German and French the following year. French editions were also printed in 1773, 1777, 1782, and 1793.
This supplement to the second edition of Bougainville's Voyage autour du Monde (Paris, 1772) was the first appearance in French of the anonymous account of Cook's first voyage and included two letters that did not appear in the original English edition. This French translation was also issued the same year as a separate publication with a different title page.
This official three-volume account of the first voyage was edited by John Hawkesworth, who had succeeded Dr. Samuel Johnson in 1744 as compiler of the parliamentary debates for the The Gentleman's Magazine. The first volume contains accounts of the voyages of Byron, Wallis, and Carteret. The second and third volumes are entirely concerned with Cook's voyage, based upon material drawn from journals kept by Cook and the papers of Joseph Banks. Hawkesworth composed his account in the first person of Cook and incorporated Banks's descriptions and observations as well as his own commentary, without ever distinguishing the different sources. As Cook bibliographer Sir Maurice Holmes noted, "The unsatisfactory character of a narrative in which the reader can never be sure that the views expressed are those of Hawkesworth or of Cook, or indeed of Banks, can readily be understood."
As with the unofficial account, the work was immensely popular. Three separate three-volume editions were published in English in 1773 and four additional English printings appeared by 1789. German, Dutch, and French translations were also published beginning in 1774. In addition to the written account of the voyage, the two volumes related to Cook's voyage include 31 illustrations, charts, and maps.
Alexander Dalrymple, a member of the Royal Society and an East India Company Captain and Hydrographer, believed that an inhabitable continent existed in the mid-latitudes of the South Seas. By literally sailing over a substantial portion of Dalrymple's supposed "Great Southern Continent" and supplanting him in the command of the Endeavour, Cook greatly angered Dalrymple. In this pamphlet, Dalrymple indirectly attacks Cook by accusing Hawkesworth of misrepresenting his conjectures concerning the location of a supposed southern land mass.
In turn, Hawkesworth replied in a light-hearted fashion in the preface to the second edition of his voyages. Dalrymple was again angered to the point of preparing another bitter rejoinder. This second pamphlet, dated September 18, 1773 and entitled Mr. Dalrymple's Observations on Dr. Hawkesworth's Preface to the Second Edition, proceeded to the proof stage but was not published due to the death of Hawkesworth on November 16 of that same year. The page-proofs of Dalrymple's response, which are extemely rare, are in two states. The later variant ends with the following note:
"Some friends, to whom the proof sheets were shewn, thinking there was too much asperity in this Reply; the Publication was delayed so long, the Dr. Hawkesworth paid his last debt to Nature, which of course must prevent the Publication for ever."
Parkinson, employed by Joseph Banks as a natural history draughtsman, was the first European painter to land in Tahiti. He died at age 26 from dysentery on the homeward voyage in 1771. His brother Stanfield, anticipating Hawkesworth's account, published this journal. An injunction against further issue, however, was granted to Hawkesworth on the grounds that the work infringed upon his rights. As a result of this dispute, Hawkesworth excluded mention of Parkinson's name in the official account, even though some of his papers were used and many of the engravings were based on his drawings. The unissued and unsold copies of Parkinson's account were eventually reissued, with additional material, in 1784. While there was much conflict over the publication of the text, the pleasing quality of Parkinson's draughtsmanship is in little doubt.
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