Georg Forster
Cook, the Discoverer: limited edition

106-page exact facsimile of the rare original German printing of 1787, followed by a 116-page newly commissioned English translation. Introductory essay by Dr Nigel Erskine, Curator of Discovery at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Quarto (248 x 212 mm.), 276 pages, two illustrations in black & white, printed on Supreme Laid paper; hand-bound in quarter tan kangaroo with speckled paper sides.

Now available

Australian: $325 (Approx. US $208, Euro €166)
1000 copies
ISBN 9781875567492

Add to Cart

About the Book

STANDARD EDITION :: Edited by Hordern House for the Australian National Maritime Museum. :: The first facsimile of the book since its original 1787 Berlin printing. :: The first English translation, with notes on the text. :: Essay by Dr Nigel Erskine, Curator of Exploration at the Australian National Maritime Museum. :: Includes an annotated bibliography of the works of Georg Forster. :: Edition strictly limited to 1050 copies. :: Sixth publication in the Australian Maritime Series, winner of a previous Galley Club of Sydney Award for Excellence.
SUPPORT THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM COLLECT AN IMPORTANT AND FASCINATING SERIES
GEORG FORSTER AND HIS BOOK In March 1787, the German naturalist, philosopher and polyglot Georg Forster completed an essay on his former captain, entitled Cook, der Entdecker [Cook, the Discoverer]. One of the earliest and best biographies of Captain James Cook, the publication continued a long involvement which had begun in 1772 when, after the withdrawal of Joseph Banks and his entourage, Johann Forster was appointed as the naturalist on Cook's second voyage, to be accompanied by Georg, his eldest son. Georg was not yet eighteen years old when he joined the crew of the Resolution for this arduous and challenging three-year Antarctic voyage, the voyage from which Cook returned triumphant as the most accomplished explorer of the eighteenth century. The scientific skills of both Forsters were never in doubt, but the elder Forster, in particular, was considered fractious and uncompromising. He openly clashed with many aboard the vessel, and particularly alienated the astronomer William Wales. This flared into open conflict when the Resolution returned to England, and was greatly exacerbated by the vexed question of the official voyage account. Johann was meant to have contributed to its writing in collaboration with Cook, but when Lord Sandwich of the Admiralty criticised an early draft, he withdrew in disgust. Johann's feelings on what he regarded as shabby treatment by the British establishment meant that he was always quite bitter about Cook, even after the latter's death in Hawaii. This resentment makes it all the more amazing that Georg not only published extensively on Cook's discoveries, but that he continued to show the utmost admiration for his former captain's resolve and skill as an explorer. Over the following decade Georg Forster published many books on voyages and the Pacific, and was already considered an expert when he was commissioned by the Berlin publishers Haude & Spener to translate the official third voyage account into German, to be accompanied by a new introduction and memoir of Cook. Richly detailed and affectionate, the essay combines personal memoir with a carefully argued appraisal of Cook's unique contribution to scientific discovery on all three voyages. Forster always believed that this work finally did justice to the memory of the great discoverer, drawing from his personal experience of sailing on the great second voyage.

THE TRANSLATION For this facsimile publication Hordern House has commissioned a translation of the original 1787 Berlin printing of Cook, der Entdecker, which now appears in English for the first time, some 220 years after its original publication. This new translation retains Forster's incisive, subtle and lively style, making Forster's vivid picture of shipboard life available to English-speakers for the first time. Paginated for easy comparison to the facsimile, and accompanied by notes and a scholarly bibliography, the latest book in the Australian Maritime Series makes Georg Forster's image of Cook available to a wide audience and goes some way to restoring the missing fragments in our understanding of the great navigator.

About the Author

THE AUTHOR OF THE INTRODUCTORY ESSAY Dr Nigel Erskine, Curator of Discovery at the Australian National Maritime Museum, has been particularly interested in Georg Forster over recent years. He recently delivered an illuminating paper on Forster's relationship with Cook at the Canberra symposium accompanying the successful exhibition "Cook's Pacific Encounters". He also represented the Australian National Maritime Museum in the 2004 search for Cook's Endeavour in Newport, Rhode Island.

Reviews

COOK, THE DISCOVERER. By Georg Forster. Sydney. Hordern House. 276pp. $325

REVIEWER: Colin Steele The Mitchell, of course, like the National Library of Australia is a wonderful repository of Cook material.The Sydney firm of Hordern House continue their excellent work in publishing Australiana related items with the sumpuously produced Cook the Discoverer, the sixth in their Australian Maritime Series for the Maritime Museum. This comprises the first full translation from the German of Georg Forster's seminal account of James Cook, published in Berlin in 1787 as Cook, der Entdecker. Hordern House commisioned the new English translation, accompanied by an introductory essay from Dr Nigel Erskine of the Australian National Maritime Museum. The original German text is also published in facsimile format. As an eighteen-year-old, Georg Forster joined his father, Johann Reinhold Forster on Cook's second voyage (1772-75). Erskine's essay 'After The Fall - George Forster and the image of Captain Cook' highlights the troubled relationship between the elder Forster and the other voyagers. For the younger Forster, however, Cook was not only a superb navigator, but also an inspirational leader and a contibutor to the progress of the Enlightenment.Martin Lutz, the current German Ambassador to Australia, notes in his foreword that " it seems incredible that we have had to wait 220 years for an English translation of such an essay, which has long been recognised as one of the best - and earliest - of comtemporary biographies of the great voyager." Cook the Discoverer physically resembles the works of the eighteenth century with its quarter tan kangaroo binding.Carr in his chapter 'From Gutenberg to Google' writes "the microchip and the computer have not made Gutenberg obsolete. The virtual book is virtually unreadable for any length of time; and browsing a book is so much easier when you can hold it in your hands. There's something enduringly effective about print on paper, by contrast with print on screen". Cook the Discoverer is such a book to hold, smell and read ! The book future will be a hybrid one but we must never forget to cherish the historical knowledge banks of history, such as the Mitchell and the Bodleian, as we descend into cyberspace.