The Life of Captain James Cook; [Volume IV of The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery] [Hakluyt Society Extra Series No. XXXVII]

Cambridge: The Hakluyt Society - University Press, 1974. First Edition, 1st Printing. Near Fine/Near Fine. [9.5x6.5in]; Vol. IV - xi, 760 pp., 51 illustrations including color frontispiece portrait of Cook by Nathaniel Dance and four others, five maps with one fold out, bibliography and index; Dark blue cloth covers with gilt lettering on spine and stamped gilt portrait of Cook on front, top edged dyed light blue, all edges trimmed; Cream dust jacket with black lettering on front; Minimal shelf wear to covers, edges and corners, all maps, and illustrations fine, dust jacket slightly darken. [Hill 367, Beddie/Mitchell 4762]. Captain James Cook (1728-1779), British explorer, navigator and cartographer, substantially contributed to the knowledge of the Pacific Islands and the coast of North America and Siberia in the three voyages spanning twelve years from 1768 to 1780. There have been many editions of the journals over the years, the Hakluyt Society's 1955-1968 publication edited by J. C. Beaglehole (John Cawte) and R. A. Skelton (Raleigh Aslin) has become the definitive and comprehensive edition. Volume IV was intended to be issued with the other volumes, but was delayed after Beaglehole's passing and was issued by his son Timothy in 1974. All of these volumes were part of the Hakluyt Extra Series numbers 34 to 37.

John Cawte Beaglehole (1901-1971) was a New Zealand historian with Victoria University. He is mainly known for his comprehensive work editing the Journals of Captain James Cook and writing this biography in his last years. The edited Journals were published by the Hakluyt Society and quickly became a definitive resource and reference work for scholars on the Cook voyages.