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Black & white illustration of a Pacific islander

Terra Australis

A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean

James Cook

1784


A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean: Undertaken … for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere … James Cook’s Third Voyage (1776–80) set out to find the long-dreamt-of North-West Passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Unlike Cook’s previous South Seas voyages, this one was spent primarily in the northern Pacific.

Cook (c1728-79) made the first European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands in January 1778, and it was there that he met his tragic death a little over a year later.

This magnificent ‘atlas’ of illustrations, published by G Nicol and T Cadell in London as a companion to the official account, was produced from the drawings of John Webber, artist on the voyage. It includes the dramatic engraving ‘The Death of Cook’ after a drawing by Webber.