LONDON.- Marking 250 years since the Endeavour set sail from Plymouth, James Cook: The Voyages (open until 28 August 2018) explores Captain James Cook’s three world-changing voyages through stunning artworks, iconic maps and original journal accounts created on board ship.

Bringing together the most important surviving records of all three voyages for the first time in a generation, the British Library exhibition features:

• James Cook’s journals and logbooks, including his account of his landing at Botany Bay in Australia and the first crossing of the Antarctic Circle

• 80 stunning original artworks by exhibition artists including Sydney Parkinson (first voyage), William Hodges (second voyage) and John Webber (third voyage)

• The only surviving drawings by Tupaia, the Polynesian high priest and navigator who joined the first voyage at Tahiti, displayed alongside his iconic chart of the islands of the Pacific

• Cook’s hand drawn first charts of New Zealand and of the east coast of Australia and his completed map of the Southern Hemisphere

• A stunning shell necklace from Tierra del Fuego and a Hawaiian mirror made from a disc of polished basalt

• Cook’s final journal entry before going ashore at Hawaii, displayed alongside two original journal accounts of his death and strongly contrasting artistic portrayals of the famous episode

Following the course of each voyage through original journals, maps and artworks, visitors to James Cook: The Voyages will observe history as it unfolds, from the islands of the south Pacific, to the coastlines of Australia, New Zealand and North America, through to the Arctic and Antarctic oceans.

Featuring interviews with descendants of the people who saw Cook’s ships arrive on their shores, the exhibition examines the impact of Cook’s voyages today, addressing contemporary controversies over the colonial legacy in Australia and New Zealand, the environmental impact of the opening up of the Antarctic seas and the role of exploration in ushering in the beginnings of globalisation.

William Frame, co-curator of James Cook: The Voyages at the British Library, said: ‘The British Library holds many iconic artworks, charts and handwritten journals from James Cook’s voyages and the exhibition displays the most famous of these together, alongside key loans, for the first time in a generation. A highlight for me has been the visitor response to William Hodges’s large-scale drawings of Pacific scenes, which are being displayed alongside his drawings from the Antarctic for the first time in decades.’

Laura Walker, co-curator of James Cook: The Voyages at the British Library, said: ‘In the exhibition visitors are able to follow the course of each voyage through eyewitness accounts, hand-drawn charts and stunning artwork and to see history as it unfolds. A particular highlight for me are the first voyage drawings from Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia by Tupaia and Sydney Parkinson. This is the first time for many years that the Library has displayed so many of these together and the visitor response to them has been amazing.’

An accompanying website hosts a range of newly digitised collection items, audio-visual content and articles by academics, artists, journalists and community historians who present their views and responses to the British Library’s exhibition and collections.

The British Library is also hosting a free display entitled Tūhuratanga: Voyage of Discovery by New Zealand Māori photographer Crystal Te Moananui-Squares, which is a response to the historical context and interpretation of images, objects and text currently on display in James Cook: The Voyages and is open until 23 September 2018.