The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook round the World

This seven-volume illustrated edition of James Cook's journals, originally published in 1821, brings together these celebrated writings in an attractive format.

This seven-volume illustrated collection, published in 1821, contains the journals of Captain James Cook (1728–79) from his three voyages to the Pacific, supplemented by material from other members of his expeditions, including the influential botanist Sir Joseph Banks. 'Cook's voyages' were essential reading for later explorers, including Charles Darwin.During Charles Darwin's 1831–6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included 'Cook's voyages' (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 3 and 4 cover Cook's second voyage (1772–5), a key objective of which was to look for a continent in the Southern Ocean. The explorers sailed to 71 degrees South, within the Antarctic Circle, encountering stormy weather and icebergs, albatrosses and storm petrels. On this voyage, the ship's naturalists were Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg (1754–94), who is credited here as co-author. Volume 4 describes the flora, fauna and people of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, the uninhabited Norfolk Island, and the voyage home via Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego. The appendix contains a vocabulary of the Tahitian language as spoken in the Society Islands.