These two illustrations provide a concise summation of European associations with North and South America and of the range of Vancouver's explorations along the eastern shores of the Pacific. To the north is the vast unpeopled landscape of the…
Label in ink in Dr Hocken’s hand: Sir Piercy Brett, 1709-81. Admiral, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. Cook named after him Cape Brett and Piercy Island or rock at the entrance to the Bay of Islands. T.M. Hocken.
Label in ink in Dr Hocken’s hand: Dr John Hawkesworth, L.L.D. 1715-1773, Edited Voyages to the Southern Hemisphere including Captain Cook’s First Voyage. T.M. Hocken; label: Na te Hakena Tenei Tiki.
Label in ink in Dr Hocken’s hand: John Montagu fourth Earl of Sandwich, 1718-92, First Lord of the Admiralty, after whom Cook called the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Island. T.M. Hocken; label: Na Te Hakena Tenei Tiki.
Not to be outdone by Venice, Pisa and Rome, Milan found her own historian in Carlo Torre. This engraving shows one of the oldest surviving Roman colonnades in the city, but does not lavish too much detail on the surroundings, consigning them to a…
Another popular account, Thicknesse proceeds more regularly than Pratt or Sterne, but their influence and elements of the picturesque are evident in the looming hills and the pious or pitiable pilgrims in the foreground. This account exemplifies the…
Sotheby's youthful poems eagerly evoke the picturesque, and the engravings added to this second edition only heighten that sensibility. An evocation such as 'Hail, solemn wreck!' (10) does not connote praise, and the beauty of the moonlit ruin proves…
Smollett is best known as a novelist and historian, but his collection of voyages was popular during the second half of the eighteenth century. In his own travels, Smollett was a very grumpy character, but he clearly possessed a good idea of what his…
Smollett is best known as a novelist and historian, but his collection of voyages was popular during the second half of the eighteenth century. In his own travels, Smollett was a very grumpy character, but he clearly possessed a good idea of what his…
Smollett's collection ranged as widely as possible in all directions, and this account of Laplanders provides a nice comparison with the Webber image above.
Published in Paris, in French, Silvestre's book is the only guidebook in the case clearly intended for a foreign audience. Drawing upon knowledge gained from several trips to Italy, he published engravings of the highlights and thus embarked on a…
This publication by Amsterdam publisher and engraver Peter Schenk is typical of those that were appearing at the turn of the 18th century. The page shown depicts the ruins of the aqueduct the Aqua Marcia. It conveyed water to both the baths of…
The frontispiece to this gorgeous volume captures the adventure associated with the settlement of Australia. Though the documents do not constitute a travel narrative, their connections with the moment of origin provide their intended readers with…
This 12° book, containing two volumes of an eight-volume collection, highlights the strong interest in circumnavigations among readers of every rank. The frontispiece captures the compelling sense of danger, while the title-page enumerates the…
Sydney Parkinson, botanical draughtsman on Cook's first voyage, died before returning to London, and his papers found their way to the library of Joseph Banks. Parkinson's brother, Stanfield, eventually obtained the papers, after a bitter public…