Case 13
- After Cook’s Death
Thomas Bankes, Edward Warren Blake and Alexander Cook. A New, Royal, Authentic and Complete System of Universal Geography, Antient and Modern … Vol. 1. London: Printed for J. Cooke, 1787.
This massive folio volume of 460 double-columned pages (the two volumes total 990 pages) is one of the most imposing universal geographies published in the eighteenth century. It was a popular work, running to six editions from 1787 to 1797, and contains descriptions of major expeditions by European explorers, lists of newly described plants and animals, and a series of maps said to be accurate and up-to-date.
On display is the first of two volumes, open at an engraved frontispiece marking the death of Captain Cook.
Thomas Bankes, Edward Warren Blake and Alexander Cook. A New, Royal, Authentic and Complete System of Universal Geography, Antient and Modern … Vol. 1. London: Printed for J. Cooke, 1787.
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James King. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean Undertaken … for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. Vol. III. London: Printed by W. and A. Strahan, 1784.
Displayed here is a chart of the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) and detail of Kealakekua Bay. This was the location of Captain Cook’s death in February 1779. James King, captain of the ship Discovery and the man who delivered the last Cook journals and charts to the Admiralty in London, edited this volume. Midshipman Henry Roberts, a skilled mapmaker, assisted King in preparing Cook’s charts for publication.
The public so eagerly awaited the long-delayed official account of Cook’s third voyage that it sold out on the third day after publication. Although the published price was £4 14s 6d, as much as 10 Guineas was offered by would-be purchasers.
James King. A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean Undertaken … for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. Vol. III. London: Printed by W. and A. Strahan, 1784.
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