CCS members will be familiar with Adrienne Kaeppler's classic works on the artefacts of Cook's voyages and many of her other two hundred or so articles and books about the cultures of the Pacific. This new work, in the Oxford History of Art series, aims to provide "the ultimate introduction to the rich and vibrant artistic cultures of the Polynesian and Micronesian islands" and sets Cook and other voyage material within the broader context.

Following the first introductory chapter the main five chapters deal with

• Artistic Visions, Rituals, and Sacred Containers;
• Aesthetics, Carving, Metaphor, and Allusion;
• Genealogical Connections: The Texts of Textiles;
• Adorning the Adorned: Tattoo, Ornaments, Clothing, Fashion;
• Ritual Spaces, Cultural Landscapes;
• Space and the Aesthetic Environment.

Within these chapters are many references to Cook's voyages and other contemporary voyages. Many well-known Cook artefacts are featured, along with some not-so-old friends, including tattooed Maori artist George Nuku, who is becoming the modern "face" of a traditional Pacific art form that is very much alive, and also of traditional carving using man-made materials. He has recently displayed his work at the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, the British Museum and the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Archaeology. He also staged his first solo UK show at The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough, and, working with North East carver David Gross, sculpted a Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Moai or statue for the Museum.

Kaeppler shows that Pacific arts are as vibrant, innovative and exciting as they were when first "discovered" by Europeans over two hundred years ago.

Some two hundred pages of authoritative yet accessible text and nearly one hundred and forty illustrations (100 in full colour) are supported with copious notes, further reading, a list of illustrations, a chronology for Polynesia and Micronesia and a twenty page index. My only criticism of this book is that it deserved to be physically bigger to do justice to the illustrations of these stunning artefacts. Otherwise a must for all interested in Cook and the Pacific.

Reviewer: Phil Philo

References
Kaeppler, Adrienne L. Artificial Curiosities: Being an exposition of native manufactures collected on the three Pacific voyages of Captain Cook. Bishop Museum Press. 1978
Kaeppler, Adrienne L. Cook Voyage Artifacts: In Leningrad, Berne and Florence Museums. Bishop Museum Press. 1978

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 20, volume 31, number 4 (2008).

At the back of this book the author provides the reader with a series of notes on the source material used for the different sections of Vancouver's life. In introducing these notes, Bown points out that his role as a popular historian has been to blend scholarship with storytelling. He admits that he has not discovered any new documentation to change the known history of Vancouver's voyage. But he claims to have brought a new and modern interpretation of the significant events that happened during and after the voyage. The Canadian author, like many of his contemporaries has also reappraised the role of the indigenous peoples, and addressed some of the previous Eurocentric mistakes. The result is a story with a strong human narrative of how one man successfully battled against nature and the elements only to suffer ignominy and defeat at the hands of his "peers".

The book begins with several chapters setting the background to the era of Pacific exploration in the late 18th century. Cook features prominently as Vancouver sailed with him as an AB on Resolution on the Second Voyage and as a junior midshipman on Resolution on the Third Voyage. Thereafter Cook hardly receives a direct mention, though several of his officers do. Colnett, Dixon, Portlock and Henry Roberts are amongst those who appear briefly, and whom Brown classes as Cook's "alumni".

The early voyages of exploration were quickly followed by voyages of exploitation as merchants from Britain and America sought the alchemist's dream whereby base metals were transmuted into gold. This process was slightly more complicated than the alchemists had realised as it involved trading the base metals for sea otter skins which brought a fortune when sold in China. This unregulated trade, this unseemly scramble for wealth by private merchants eventually resulted in the Nootka Sound Incident and brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war.

The majority of the book is devoted to Vancouver's famous voyage that resulted in his detailed mapping of the west coast of what is now Canada and Alaska. Vancouver was obviously a man driven to prove himself in this unique opportunity. But he appears to have been more focussed on his cartography than the onboard relations with his company. Whereas Cook became a father figure to his "people", Vancouver became loathed and despised for his strict discipline. Bown queries whether Vancouver was not so much a disciplinarian as somebody who was frightened of falling foul of the Admiralty by not obeying his instructions to the letter. And when Vancouver found himself in a situation where he had no instructions he chose inaction rather than risking an inappropriate course of action.

Vancouver's voyage (1791-95) lasted 4 years and covered 60,000 miles. Much happened on Discovery but even more had happened in Britain. Vancouver returned to find the country embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars with little interest in a captain who had been away for four years. Vancouver was not to know that Thomas Pitt, an unruly midshipman who he had punished on several occasions, had inherited his late father's title (Lord Camelford), his estate, and his fortune, until Vancouver received a letter inviting him to a duel. It was the start of Camelford's private and public persecution of his captain, a story that the press found far more newsworthy than Vancouver's voyage. It appears that the power of the press in destroying an individual's reputation was just as great then as it is today. Camelford's persecution of Vancouver (aided and abetted by Joseph Banks) only exacerbated the captain's ill health, and brought him to an early grave in 1798. He was only 41 years old.

The author has achieved almost all that he set out to do. The inter-personal conflicts on board Discovery provide a strong storyline and are just as fascinating as the naval challenges encountered on the voyage. But it is clear that one of the author's goals has yet to be achieved. He closes his book with the sentence "He (Vancouver) accomplished great things and, as our historical and cultural ancestor, he deserves a greater place in our collective memory." So I was saddened to learn that the author has so far failed to find a publisher for his book in the UK. They tell him that Vancouver is not well enough known for them to risk publication. It looks as if Banks's attempt to expunge Vancouver from the pages of naval history has been a success!

Reviewer: Cliff Thornton

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 20, volume 31, number 4 (2008).

This special issue of the journal is edited by guest editor Steven Hooper, well-known for his exhibition and book "Pacific Encounters". This issue contains in-depth articles examining some of the most important and enigmatic early objects from the Pacific, most of which are items brought back by, or were in use at the time of the visits of, Captain Cook.

Adrienne Kaeppler discusses fare atua (godhouses) and to'o (god figures), their uses and relationships, including to'o brought back on Cook's First Voyage. Hooper looks at A'a, an unusual wooden carving from Rurutu in the Austral Islands (called Hitiroa by Tupaia when Cook visited in 1769) that has become an iconic Pacific artefact much used to illustrate books and magazines.

Karen Stephenson, with Hooper, looks at the striking fau headdresses brought back from the Society Islands by Cook and illustrated by both First and Second Voyage artists. Roger Neich, Curator at the Auckland Museum, New Zealand, looks at Tongan figures, mainly collected after Cook but whose significance and interpretation obviously has implications for earlier material from Cook's voyages.

As you would expect from these scholars the arguments surrounding the significance of these artefacts are thoroughly analysed and each author's own conclusions is put together with authority. But don't be put off - these articles are well-worth coming to terms with and show the great depths of scholarship that Cook voyage artefacts still attract.

Reviewer: Phil Philo

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 21, volume 31, number 4 (2008).

In 1927 the Australian parliament moved from Melbourne to its new permanent home in Canberra. With it went the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library, which was renamed the National Library of Australia. Recently added to its collections was a journal written between 1768 and 1771 by a certain Lieutenant James Cook on his First Voyage round the world.

Like all national libraries, the role of the NLA is to ensure that documentary resources of national significance are collected, preserved and made accessible to the public. Libraries are open to readers, and are now making great use of the internet to showcase their items. However, there has long remained a place for publications that enable the public to examine collections, and in this the NLA is no exception. In the UK, both the National Archives and the British Library have an important publication programme, taking either a collection of documents (for example Admiralty and Navy papers) or a particular person (for example Elizabeth I) and examining the documents they hold and the history they can tell us. The NLA's publication programme includes the recently started series of books called "Collection Highlights". The book Cook's Endeavour Journal: the Inside Story is the second in this series. It is beautifully illustrated with pictures of charts, drawings / paintings from the voyage etc., as well as pages of the journal itself. We all know the story of the First Voyage, but usually it is from being told it by a third party. This book enables you to read about the journey through some of Cook's own words, while placing it in its context.

James Cook's journal measures 52.5 centimetres high and 34 centimetres wide and consists of a series of double-leaved folios; it began working life as a 92-page folio but grew in size after Cook added extra loose-folded folio pages. In comparison, the book from the NLA is small (19cm) and quite short (160 pages). It is intended only as an introduction to the First Voyage, and perhaps aimed at someone new to Cook. That said, I do believe it has a place on the bookshelves of the experts as well, if only for the colour illustrations of the journal itself. Seeing Cook's handwriting, and trying to get to grips with his punctuation and spelling, really helps bring this voyage alive. I personally would have liked to have seen more of the original journal, but my desire is more than amply served by the NLA's wonderful website at www.nla.gov.au/nla-ms-ms1

There are a number of chapters, each preceded with a double colour page and a single quote from the journal, relevant to that section. For example, "A short Vocabulary of a few words in the New-Holland Language" for the section on Cook's meeting and recording of the aborigines, and "By this time we were so weake[n]ed by sickness" for the piece on their journey after Batavia. The next two pages of each chapter show a section of the original journal, and a transcript of that part, giving you a chance to test your knowledge of 18th century handwriting! A few pages, sometimes only one or two, tell the story, often quoting from the journal as well. The last chapter brings Endeavour back to Britain and outlines what happened to Cook's family, Banks, Solander and the ship herself, and brief mention is made of Cook's next two voyages.

As a researcher I handle historical documents on an almost daily basis and am never less than impressed by the fact that they have survived. For me, the most interesting chapter was the first one, which explains how the journal got from Endeavour to NLA. It had survived nearly three years at sea, and then disappeared from public view. For almost 150 years no one really knew the whereabouts of this journal and some had begun to doubt its existence. In the 1950s Beaglehole traced it's history and discovered that it had been left by Elizabeth Cook to her cousin Isaac Smith. In 1865 members of the Smith family sold the journal and other Cook items at auction where they fetched £14 15s and were bought by Henry Bolckow, of Marton.¹ His great nephew, another Henry, put the items up for sale in London in 1923.² He was offered £5,000 before the auction by the Mitchell Library in New South Wales, who were keen to add the journal to its growing collection, but the offer was rejected. When Australia's new Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce, came to office he was persuaded that the purchase of the journal would be a splendid start to his period in office and so the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library (the forerunner of the NLA) entered the bidding alongside the Mitchell Library. The auction was held at Sotheby's on 21 March 1923. Although it was feared the main opposition would come from America (the fear of many libraries at auctions today) in the end the journal and other items sold with it were secured for £5,000. Within four months, the journal was back in Australia and on display in Melbourne.

While nothing beats seeing the original of any document, owning a book such as this with so many reproductions is surely the next best thing, and I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

Reviewer: Ruth Boreham

References

1. Cook's Log, page 1046, vol. 17, no. 3 (1994).
2. Cook's Log, page 47, vol. 30, no. 4 (2007).

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 37, volume 32, number 1 (2009).

The title of this book doesn't fit the contents. It is the interesting story of how James Cook in Endeavour and Jean-François-Marie de Surville in St Jean-Baptiste came to round the northern tip of New Zealand at the same time, and what happened next. And, according to Blainey "the French ship was almost within sight of Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour months before the British ship arrived there."

Blainey interleaves the stories of the two voyages as much as he can, given they didn't start at the same time.

The book starts with Cook's birth on 27 October 1728 in Marton and takes us through Staithes, Whitby, Quebec, his marriage, Newfoundland and his appointment to Endeavour. Life in the ship is described, the purpose of the voyage, and the scientists Banks and Solander. Then the voyage is covered: Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Horn and Tahiti up to the reading of the secret instructions. A total of 50 pages.

Then it is de Surville's turn. He was born on 18 January 1717 in Port-Louis in Brittany, France. He went to sea at 10, visited China, became a captain "in a merchant ship and then in a naval vessel". The story takes us through the Seven Years War, India, his marriage, two sons, Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion. A total of 2 paragraphs covering 48 years of his life. What a disappointment. I wanted to know more about these years leading up to the voyage than is covered in this book. And there is more that can be told about him as I found out by looking at two of the sources used by Blainey.

De Surville's story continues with the preparations in Pondicherry on the east coast of India. His instructions were so secret he never revealed them to anyone, before or during the voyage. They came from the owners of the ship, of which he was one, and from the French colonial officials. Blainey compares and contrasts with Cook de Surville's seamanship and his attitude to the health and well-being of his men. Apparently, de Surville sometimes "vexed his fellow officers by transferring scarce food from their table to the plates of sick seamen." The purpose of this voyage was trade, so the ship "was so crammed with items for sale or barter that scant space was left in several of the officers' cabins." And there were nearly 200 men aboard, more than double that in Endeavour.

As Blainey puts it, "Cook was an explorer and chart-maker, de Surville was an explorer and trader".

Blainey is good at describing how de Surville's voyage came about, though its intentions were based on false or misunderstood information. De Surville was to seek out an island of Jewish traders in the Pacific seen by the company of Dolphin commanded by Wallis. Possibly it was Davis Land, an island once seen 80 years earlier. The explanation is good and not easy to summarise in this review.

The ship sets sail and made their way to Malaysia, then up north of the Philippines to the Batan Islands, where three natives were kidnapped and carried away. As they passed through the Solomon Islands many of the crew were struck by scurvy. At one island the natives attacked them and the sailors retaliated by killing about 40 men. And a boy was kidnapped and carried away.

Blainey now digresses to tell of Tasman's arrival at New Zealand in 1642 and the naming of Cape Maria van Diemen and the Three Kings at the tip of the north island. Then he continues with Cook's arrival at New Zealand and his journey up the east coast to the Bay of Islands. Back to de Surville who is sailing south. The continuation of scurvy meant he was now desperate for fresh supplies but, fearful that the unknown east coast of Australia. might be as barren as the known west coast, he resolved to sail south until the known latitude of Tasman's New Zealand and then turn east to find it. And that is what he did. At one point some of the men could smell the land, possibly that around Sydney Harbour. Perhaps they were only 40 miles away. Blainey digresses with an explanation of how sailors could smell land, using descriptions of the fabled Captain Ahab and those of nineteenth century sailors. He then speculates on what might have happened if de Surville had turned west and laid claim to Sydney Harbour for the French. Instead they arrived on the west coast of New Zealand, but were unable to land by strong winds that blew the ship north.

Back to Cook who sails past Doubtless Bay, but was unable to investigate due to strong winds that blew the ship north. And so the ships passed each other. "Possibly for one hour of that summer day, only 25 or 30 miles were between them [and] neither captain had an inkling that the other was also exploring in this corner of the Pacific Ocean" writes Blainey.

De Surville rounded the north-east corner of New Zealand, passed North Cape and met some Maori in canoes. The first encounter was friendly. Fresh greens were obtained and trade established. By now the ship was in Cook's Doubtless Bay, which de Surville named Lauriston. The Maori were friendly and Christmas celebrated. Many of the sick recovered but, before everyone was fit, new gales sprang up and nearly drove the ship onto rocks. A dinghy was lost and taken by the Maori. The French retaliated by burning huts and nets. And a Maori was kidnapped and carried away. De Surville sailed east for South America hoping to find Davis Land and the Jewish colony on the way.

In the meantime Cook spent three weeks covering as few as 30 sea miles "determined to find the true position of those great natural signposts, the North Cape and the Cape Maria van Diemen". Blainey continues the story of Cook's voyage down the west coast, around South Island and then west to Australia and up its eastern coast.

After describing the near disaster on the Great Barrier Reef Blainey digresses into considering Cook's conduct. After considering the views of Alan Villiers, Alexander Dalrymple and J.C. Beaglehole, Blainey goes on to contemplate if "Cook at that time was prone to take risks" due to the influence of the moonlight, pointing out that "on two previous occasions he had sailed into trouble on moonlit nights". Blainey does so as part of his desire to see Cook "as a human being, performing remarkable feats".

Blainey continues Cook's story until he leaves Australia, then switches to that of de Surville searching for Davis Land. He didn't find it, nor the Jewish colony, the riddle of which Blainey considers again. Food and water became scarce and scurvy appeared again amongst the crew. Eventually the ship arrived off the coast of South America, and they sailed north for help in a Spanish colonial port. At the first port they came they fired the ship's guns but no one responded so de Surville set off in his best uniform to seek help. But the boat capsized and he was drowned, and with him knowledge of his secret orders.

Blainey completes Cook's story with the journey home to England. He also describes how at Cape Town on the homeward leg of the Second Voyage Cook met some French ships on their way to Pondicherry. One of the captains, Julien-Marie Crozet told Cook of de Surville's voyage.

The book has 24 illustrations grouped together in the middle. They are a mix of paintings, engravings and photos of some of the places described in the book. Most of the pictures are in colour. There are six maps, each of which is useful, but usually appears too late in the book, just after the passage they cover rather than being the visual means of guidance needed by the reader.

Blainey devotes more pages of this book to Cook than to de Surville, but discusses their trials and tribulations fairly.

Reviewer: Ian Boreham     See also Cook's Log, page 1087, vol. 17, no. 4 (1994).

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 38, volume 32, number 1 (2009).

It was only after I had agreed to review this book that I discovered that the author has been a practicing attorney in Alaska for 35 years, so I am choosing my words with far more care than usual. It may be more pertinent to say that the author, James Barnett, has been the President of the Cook Inlet Historical Society since 1998, and is well known for his research into the early history of the coast of N.W. America.

His book about Alaska is similar to many of his predecessors who have focussed on a discrete geographical area that Captain Cook visited. The author had a rich and varied range of source material to draw upon and I suspect that the most difficult part of his work was deciding what to leave out. I believe that this is the first book to look specifically at Cook's visit to Alaska, and it was published in May 2008 to commemorate the 230th anniversary of Cook sailing into Cook Inlet.

The author traces Cook's voyage from March 1778, when he encountered the coast of modern day Oregon, to the return of Resolution and Discovery to London in October 1780. This short period of some 30 months is recounted in 11 chapters covering different stages of the voyage, including the winter visit to Hawai'i. A final chapter records those who visited the Alaskan coasts after Cook including La Perouse, Malaspina, Billings, the Nootka incident, and of course the epic voyage of George Vancouver.

The reader is able to relate the author's commentary to Cook's progress along the coast with the help of a useful map inside the front cover. But, as the map only traces the path of Resolution from May to October 1778, it does not show the course of the ship when Clerke returned to the Arctic in the summer of 1779.

I enjoyed the author's literary style which follows the chronology of the voyage at a leisurely pace, finding time to introduce associated themes at appropriate junctures. So that by the end of the book the reader is fully aware of issues such as scurvy, longitude and the sea otter trade. The author shows considerable skill in bringing together the extracts from the journals of Cook and his crew. These extracts have been carefully chosen and enhance the story that is being told. Those who are familiar with Cook's Third Voyage will find little new in this book, but as the old saying goes, a good tale deserves retelling.

Now and again the author takes the opportunity to add some relevant historical background to local aspects of the Cook voyage. Whilst welcoming this new information I was a little disappointed that the author did not provide any interpretation of the cultural behaviour of the indigenous peoples as recorded by Cook. Maybe I have been spoilt by reading Anne Salmond's "The Trial of the Cannibal Dog" where she contrasts journal extracts with a Maori interpretation of events. This lack of such detail is worthy only of being noted rather than being a complaint.

The 250 pages of text are augmented by 40 pages of colour illustrations printed on fine art paper. Many of these illustrations are reproductions of Webber's original drawings, reflecting the high quality of the illustrations.

The author has included two useful appendices; one is a detailed chronology of Cook's Third Voyage giving dates of arrival and departure at various locations, the other lists the place-names assigned by Cook to various geographical features. Wherever possible the author provides some background as to why Cook gave certain names.

The book contains footnotes to each chapter, with Beaglehole being prominent amongst the entries. There are several pages of bibliography relating to the printed word, but the author does not refer the reader to any Internet sources of information. The book ends with a useful index to those people and places referred to in the story of the voyage.

This book is published as an A5 paperback, but this in no way detracts from the high quality of the publication. The spine appears to have been stitched and glued, thus ensuring that copies of this book will be around for many years to come, and deservedly so.

Reviewer: Cliff Thornton

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 38, volume 27, number 2 (2009).

The title page of this book also says "Engravings and descriptions from A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, volumes I, II, and II, and the Atlas by Captain James Cook and Captain James King, published as the official edition of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in London, 1784."

The first edition was published in 1999 by the Hawaiian Historical Society¹ and the book was put together in collaboration with James A. Mattison, Jr.² The book reproduces all 61 engraved plates, made from John Webber's drawings, and three maps, published in the rare folio atlas accompanying the official report. Also included is the engraving of Cook's death added to the 1785 second edition of the atlas. The pictures are linked with their appropriate entries from the original text of the journals kept by Cook and his officers. Eleanor has added an introduction and biographical sketches of artist John Webber and the 25 engravers who rendered his drawings.

The difference with the second edition is explained on the title page: "Featuring stamps related to Captain James Cook and his voyages of discovery from the Ron V. Meads collection."³

What a great idea!

The text of the first edition had wide margins and these have been used to good purpose for the placing of the stamps, starting with the Foreword. Each stamp is captioned with its country of origin and the significance of its design, and nothing else, leaving the pages as clean and uncluttered as before. The stamps have been chosen well to highlight the text they accompany, and do not appear on the pages reproducing the engravings, leaving the beauty of those items to shine on their own.

Instead there is an extra section after the engravings where some of them are reproduced as small images along with some of the stamps that show the same picture. Thus the reader / viewer can compare how well the stamps portray the original and, sometimes, even two stamps showing the same thing.

For the stamp collector, there is a brief description of Ron Meads' stamp collection of 12 albums, and a list of the stamps featured from it. This list includes issue date, face value and the catalogue numbers from both Scott and Stanley Gibbons. There is a separate list of relevant stamp books, article and web sites, and (a nice touch) a list of stamps grouped by country.

The first edition of this book is difficult to get hold of these days, so this second edition is most welcome. The addition of the stamps has been done in such a way that anyone not interested in them won't find their presence intrusive, and might marvel at the beauty of some of the stamps that look like miniature paintings.

Nearly all the stamps are shown in mint condition, which is that favoured by thematic collectors, but there are a few in used state showing a postmark, which is a pity as all are easily obtainable in mint condition. They spoilt the visual look of the pages, and add no value.

The quality of the engraving reproduced in the book is superb. It is rare to find a modern book with so many. It is well worth purchasing for that reason alone.

My copy of the first edition is somewhat battered from over use, and I suspect the second edition will go the same way.

Reviewer: Ian Boreham

References

1. Cook's Log, page 1682, vol. 22, no. 4 (1999).
2. Cook's Log, page 1705, vol. 23, no. 1 (2000).
3. Cook's Log, page 27, vol. 27, no. 2 (2004).

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 38, volume 32, number 2 (2009).

In this novel Hartmann describes the Third Voyage of James Cook through the eyes of John Webber, the artist of this voyage and the main character of the book.

In the first chapter Webber personally delivers his portrait of Cook to Mrs Cook as a present from the Admiralty. She refuses to see any likeness of her husband, as she remembers him, in the "earnest and pinched" person in the portrait. She implores Webber to tell her the truth about Cook's death, but he cannot oblige. However, she keeps the portrait because "it would be very impolite towards the Admiralty to refuse it".

The next chapter describes the voyage of the six year old John Webber from London to live with his aunt in Berne (Switzerland), where he learns to paint. From then on, Hartmann switches between the description of Cook's Third Voyage and the time after it in London, when Webber had to work his sketches into paintings and oversee their engraving by the copperplate engravers.

The description of the voyage is given either in the form of fictionalised letters from Webber to his brother Henry and a girl he was attracted to, or as a diary, or as a report.

As an artist Webber comes over as a very good observer. He not only writes about the events of the voyage but also about the moods and the atmosphere on board. I found this aspect very interesting, because Webber associated with the officers (he took his meals with them) but also kept company with the lower ranks.

He tells us about the discussions among Cook, King and the other officers about how to treat the natives and bring them the achievements of the European civilisation (including venereal diseases). He is very shocked by the acts of violence that Cook orders or tolerates (such as whipping members of the crew, and burning down native villages). On the one hand, he sees Cook as a father; on the other, as a very private person and someone who tends to excessive and sometimes irrational outbursts of rage at relatively small incidents. Among the company he observes and endures the tensions caused by the very different personalities living in cramped quarters, aggravated by the many animals (cows, goats, horses and pigs) with their noise and stench.

After getting used to the life on board, he starts painting and sketching all he sees. However Cook censors his pictures. Everything that shows the British in a bad light is forbidden and destroyed. This is very frustrating to Webber, as he is not allowed to put down on paper what he actually observes. After the voyage, he experiences the same censoring, now ordered by the Admiralty, with regard to the paintings that are allowed to be published, especially the one showing Cook's death at Hawaii.

Three years after his first visit to Mrs Cook, he brings her 60 copperplate engravings. This visit is even more of a disaster than the first one. Cook's son Hugh does not want to believe that his father was killed without a fight. The family and the Admiralty wish James Cook to be remembered as a hero.

During my reading of the book, I heard two interviews on the radio with Lukas Hartmann. He explained that he wanted to show how a historical truth is created and what happens when the values of our European civilisation are brought to other parts of the world. Like the John Webber of the book, he sees himself in the role of a "reporter" of the voyage. The reporter has to describe what he sees but is always bothered by his inadequacies as an artist.

Hartmann said that today the circumstances of such a voyage are not imaginable. As an author he can use his imagination to compensate for this, in contrast to the historians who have to report facts. With regard to the censoring by Cook and the Admiralty, he asks himself how we can determine what really happened on the voyages and know what was left out and what was whitewashed.

In considering the changed character of Cook compared to the earlier voyages, Hartmann speculated, that Cook was suffering from stress, perhaps even burn-out. In fact, James Cook often emerges as a rather unpleasant, unpredictable person.

I enjoyed reading the book. It is well written, detached and with many details. It gives a good insight into how life on such a ship would have been for the ordinary seaman.

Reviewer: Pauline Frossard

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 43, volume 32, number 3 (2009).

Following in the style of the previous catalogues to exhibitions at the Memorial Museum in Whitby, the latest contains only twenty pages but the factual content and the many illustrations make it a very worthwhile addition to any Cook library. A major contributor and supporter is Dr Ian Jackson, a Yorkshireman by birth but now of Montreal, Canada, who has held several important positions for the Canadian Government. He is joined by several other contributors, including CCS members John Robson and Selma Huxley Barkham. Exhibits have been loaned by many important institutions throughout the UK and material is also reproduced from museums and people worldwide.

The title is faithfully followed by a chronological development of Cook's association with Canada, including a useful timeline. Appropriately, the exhibition opens just 250 years after Cook, then Master of Pembroke, was involved in the events leading to the successful British assault on the French city of Quebec in 1759. A two-page article notes the difficulties of navigating the river St. Lawrence and Cook's role in charting it, thus enabling the British fleet to reach Quebec. It outlines the course of the battle culminating in success for the British and the deaths of the two commanders, Wolfe and Montcalm. Prior to this one are articles concerning Cook's presence at Louisbourg and the important meeting with Samuel Holland, the military surveyor. There is also essential information on the importance of Newfoundland and the cod fisheries. The end of the Seven Years War brought Cook's appointment as the surveyor of Newfoundland, and emphasis is given to Cook's skills in navigation and charting in the next article, with attention also given to the publication of the charts. This work, of course, led to Cook's appointment to command of Endeavour and his first world voyage. The final article is about Cook's time on the North West Coast of Canada during his fateful Third Voyage, and gives special prominence to the time spent at Nootka Sound. Each of the articles is very well illustrated with examples of Cook's charts and the reproduction of famous paintings and drawings, many of which appear in the exhibition.

The remaining pages of the catalogue are devoted to a list of the exhibits with background information about each item; many of the items are illustrated. The front and back covers of the catalogue cleverly combine a copy of Cook's chart of the Harbour of St. Peter for Thomas Graves, then Governor of Newfoundland, with a reproduction of a troop landing boat used at Quebec and a photograph of the "Little Wooden Midshipman", a figure used by a well known chart maker in London and used by Charles Dickens in his novel Dombey and Son. It is now in the Dickens Museum, London.

A small, entertaining and informative booklet and an essential guide to the exhibition.

Reviewer: Alwyn Peel

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 45, volume 32, number 3 (2009).

If you have read CCS member Derek Morris's previous local history publication Mile End Old Town 1740-1780¹ then you will correctly anticipate the high quality of his new publication.

Working with his colleague Ken Cozens, he has distilled many years of research into another local history publication that is both readable as well as being an excellent reference tool.

If the author's name is not sufficient evidence of the superior standard of this work, then let me tell you what you get for your money. The 182 pages contain fifteen chapters, numerous appendices, excellent illustrations and statistical tables, and the usual comprehensive indices of people and places.

Anybody with a passing interest in England's maritime history should buy this book for the four chapters on Ship Owners, International Traders, Coastal Trade, and Victualling the Navy. The chapter on the maritime artist Francis Holman is an added benefit. As with his previous publication Derek has drawn a detailed picture of life and times in Wapping in the 17th and 18th centuries. The authors have drawn on a rich variety of original source material and the reader is given details of appropriate publications and archives, thereby providing an excellent insight for anybody undertaking historical and genealogical research in this area of East London.

Although Captain Cook does not figure as largely in this book as he does in the Mile End Old Town publication, he does appear now and again. As well as having walk-on roles in the various maritime chapters, Cook also appears in the section on instrument makers, and, of course, in the chapter on Francis Holman who painted the famous scene of Resolution and Adventure off the Downs.²

The latest publication follows the format which Derek established with his previous book, i.e. an A4 softback printed on fine art paper. This book is 20% larger than Mile End, but then it needs to be larger as it has so many historical tales to tell, as well as covering a wider chronological period.

Reviewer: Cliff Thornton

References

1. Morris, Derek. Mile End Old Town 1740-1780: a social history of an early modern London suburb. East London History Society. 2007. Reviewed in Cook's Log, page 35, vol. 30, no. 3 (2007).
2. See Cook's Log, page 1385, vol. 20, no. 2 (1997).

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 45, volume 32, number 3 (2009).