Cook's great expeditions rank as some of the major voyages of discovery of all time. The fascinating record of work accomplished is now completed with the publication of this third and final volume of the (hitherto largely unpublished) charts and coastal views drawn during Cook's third and final voyage, undertaken in part `to find out a Northern Passage by Sea from the Pacific.
Arranged as far as possibly chronologically, this book provides for thefirst time a fully illustrated account of the surveying activities carried out. The main section contains a full descriptive catalogue of all the charts and coastal views produced on board the Resolution and Discoveryand their related engravings, cataloguing over 200 items, each reproduced as black and white illustrations. These include a small number of items which have come to light since the publication of earlier volumes relating to Cook. A wide-ranging and absorbing introduction covers items from the performance of the two chronometers during the voyage to biographical sketches of surveyors, draughtsmen and artists involved in the production of the charts and views, while a section on the use of colour by the artists reproduces over 20 items produced on board ship in full colour. There is also a descriptive inventory listing all the items catalogued according to their present locations.
ANDREW DAVIDwas formerly employed in the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office in Taunton, where a number of the charts from Cook's third voyage are deposited.