10, Reed Gallery - Dunedin Public Libraries Official Website

A Journal of a Voyage Round the World, in His Majesty's Ship Endeavour, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771. London: Printed for T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, 1771.

Known as Becket’s Edition, this is the first printed account of Captain Cook’s first voyage. It was published anonymously nearly two years before Hawkesworth’s account. Of uncertain authorship, it has been variously attributed to James Matra (a midshipman on the Endeavour), Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, Richard Orton, William Perry, and the publisher Thomas Becket.

The displayed text alludes to the climbing of Kaitapeha Peak on Arapawa Island, from which Cook viewed the strait separating the North and South Islands. The existence of Cook Strait – suspected by Tasman in 1642 – proved that New Zealand was an archipelago and not part of the imagined Southern Continent.

A Journal of a Voyage Round the World, in His Majesty's Ship Endeavour, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771. London: Printed for T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, 1771.
Open image in new window

Sir Joseph Banks. Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, During Captain Cook's First Voyage in H.M.S. Endeavour in 1768-71 … London: Macmillan, 1896.

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was an English botanist and one of the most influential scientific patrons of the eighteenth century. After inheriting a fortune on the death of his father in 1761, Banks devoted his life to studying natural history. His fame following his participation in Captain Cook's epic voyage on the Endeavour led to his election as President of the Royal Society in 1778, a post which he held until his death.

This volume, first published in 1896, contains Banks' account of the voyage of the Endeavour across the Pacific Ocean. Edited by Sir Joseph Hooker, it describes in detail the peoples, cultures and wildlife Banks encountered in Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia.

Sir Joseph Banks. Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, During Captain Cook's First Voyage in H.M.S. Endeavour in 1768-71 … London: Macmillan, 1896.
Open image in new window

Treasury of Pacific Exploration

Case 10 - Cook’s First Voyage 2

A Journal of a Voyage Round the World, in His Majesty's Ship Endeavour, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771. London: Printed for T. Becket and P.A. De Hondt, 1771.

Sir Joseph Banks. Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, During Captain Cook's First Voyage in H.M.S. Endeavour in 1768-71 … London: Macmillan, 1896.

Cases