he former returning to England in 1775. The
results of this voyage were drawn up by Captain Cook himself, and
published in 1777 in two quarto volumes. In 1776 he sailed once more in
the _Resolution_, but was destined never to return, for on St.
Valentine's Day, 1779, he met his death at the hands of the natives of
Hawaii. The expedition returned the next year, and the official account
of it was published in 1784, in three quarto volumes, of which the first
two were from the pen of Cook, the third volume being written by James
King. The following year a second edition appeared, also in three quarto
volumes. All these works have maps, charts, and folding plates, which are
sometimes bound up separately into folio volumes. A few of these somewhat
crude plates were engraved by Bartolozzi. Admiral James Burney's
'Chronological History of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Sea,' was
published in five quarto volumes between 1803 and 1817. The author was
one of Cook's officers, and the diary of the last voyage which he sailed
in company with the great navigator is still (1921) in manuscript. His
account of the death of Captain Cook, however, was published in the
'Cornhill Magazine' so lately as November 1914.

During the first half of the nineteenth century many handsome works upon
these subjects issued from the press. For the most part they are
sumptuous books, many of them having coloured plates and sometimes
folding ones. They were published chiefly for subscribers at prices
ranging from two guineas to fifteen; and during the last few years they
have risen considerably in price. Until the decline of the coloured
engraving in the 'fifties of last century they were legion in number,
both quartos and octavos, and many are still to be had for a few
shillings. But a study of booksellers' catalogues alone will give you an
idea of their prices and values. Needless to say, works upon voyages,
travels, and explorations issued in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries are becoming increasingly scarce and valuable.

Here a word of warning. Before you purchase any of these illustrated
volumes, make sure (by referring to a bibliography or standard collation
if possible) that it is intact. Frequently a plate or a map is missing,
and sometimes an unscrupulous seller will go so far as to remove the
'list of plates' in order that the blemish may remain undetected. With
such defects, books of travel are generally of little worth.

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