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An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of his present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, Volume III
An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of his present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, Volume III

An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of his present Majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, Volume III

Author (British, 1715 - 1773)
Subject or historical figure (English, 1728 - 1779)
Date1773
Object number00000356
NameBook
MediumPaper, leather covered boards
DimensionsOverall: 294 x 249 mm, 1.8 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
Collections
DescriptionVolume III of John Hawkesworth's 'An account of the voyages undertaken by the order of his present majesty for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere and successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Carteret, Captain Wallis, and Captain Cook, in the DOLPHIN, the SWALLOW, and the ENDEAVOUR: drawn up from the journals which were kept by the several commanders, and from the papers of Joseph Banks, esq;'. Edited by the literary commentator and publicist John Hawkesworth and often referred to simply as 'Hawkesworth's Voyages', this three volume set is an account of the voyages around the world by the English explorers Byron, Wallis, Carteret and Cook (ENDEAVOUR voyage) during the second half of the 18th century. Cook was highly critical of the work, a fact that led him to take control of the publication of the account of his second voyage. Despite criticism, 'Hawkesworth's Voyages' proved popular. William Bligh is known to have carried a set of the volumes aboard the BOUNTY as part of his library, and it is thought that Fletcher Christian consulted these when looking for a place to settle in the Pacific.HistoryDuring the 18th century, Captain James Cook's voyages greatly contributed to European knowledge of the Pacific and the published accounts of the expeditions proved to be extremely popular. The first voyage in which Cook commanded HM Bark ENDEAVOUR arrived in Tahiti to view the Transit of Venus. The Royal Society of London petitioned King George III for a ship to be sent to view the planet's transit across the sun, due to take place on 3 June 1769. Cook then sailed south, where in October 1769 he reached New Zealand, as 'discovered' by Abel Tasman in 1642. After mapping both the north and south islands, it was clear this was not the Great South Land and he started on the journey home. It was during this voyage that Cook first approached eastern Australia. An attempt to land on 28 April 1770 failed due to rough surf so Cook sailed ENDEAVOUR round to a calm bay which is now known as Botany Bay. Here on 29 April 1770, Cook and his crew first set foot on Australian soil. In accordance with the expedition's scientific purpose a number of samples of flora and fauna were collected, while drawings of the coast and specimens were produced. Cook's voyage continued north along the coast, where he narrowly avoided being wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef and was forced to undertake repairs in what is now known as Cooktown. Cook and his crew eventually returned home in July 1771 with many botanical specimens and reports of their encounters with the Indigenous peoples they met. John Hawkesworth was commissioned by the British Admiralty to edit Captain Cook's ENDEAVOUR voyage papers and publish an account of British exploration in the Pacific, 'An account of the voyages undertaken .. for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere'. Known as Hawkesworth's Voyages, the volumes are a chronological account of the British voyages of John Byron (1764-66), Samuel Wallis (1766-68), Phillip Carteret (1766-69) and James Cook (1768-71) on board the vessels ENDEAVOUR, DOLPHIN and SWALLOW. At the time of its release Hawkesworth's work was very popular, with translations being written in German, Dutch and French by 1774. However the book involved substantial editing of the original papers it was taken from and Hawkesworth was criticised for the inaccuracies and unfaithfulness in his work. For example in Volume 3 Hawkesworth uses the first person voice of Captain Cook to describe the voyage, however Cook's view was blended with the opinions of Joseph Banks and Hawkesworth without any real distinction.SignificanceThis book represents the British Admiralty's official view of the exploration of the Australian coastline by Captain Cook in 1768-1771. It was very popular at the time of its publication.