So much is written about Cook and the Endeavour and their voyage of discovery that it can be hard to know where to start your research and what's important.
Here are some research tips and resources from our Library collection and available online that we hope will be of help.
To start here are books from our library collection that we use when researching this topic. To find them in a Library near you use our Cook and Endeavour list on Trove
The Endeavour
His Majesty's bark Endeavour: the story of the ship and her people
Antonia Macarthur. Pymble, N.S.W: Angus & Robertson in association with the Australian National Maritime Museum, 1997
910.45 COO
This is an informative and easy to read account of life on board the Endeavour. *Good for school projects
Captain Cook and the Endeavour
Mike Lefroy. Fitzroy, Vic: Black Dog Books, 2010
910.45 COO
Captain Cook's Endeavour
Mike Lefroy. - Fremantle, W.A: H.M. Bark Endeavour Foundation, [1998].
910.45
*Both these 2 books by Mike Lefroy are very good for school projects
H.M. Bark Endeavour: her place in Australian history: With an account of her construction, crew and equipment and a narrative of her voyage on the east coast of New Holland in the year 1770: with plans, charts and illustrations by the author
Ray Parkin. Carlton, Vic: Melbourne University Press, 1997
910.45 COO
A scholarly work about the Endeavour.
Captain Cook's Endeavour
Karl Heinz Marquardt. Rev. ed. London: Conway Maritime, c2001.
623.822 MAR
Detailed drawings of the ship, ships boats and fittings for model makers. From the Anatomy of the ship series.
The Endeavour voyage
The journals of Captain James Cook on his voyages of discovery
edited by J. C. Beaglehole. Woodbridge: Boydell [in association with Hordern House, Sydney], 1999. 5 vols.910.45 COO
A classic work.
Historical records of New South Wales. Vol. 1 Part .1 Cook 1762-1780
Mona Vale, N.S.W: Lansdowne Slattery & Co. , 1978.
REF 994. HIS
First published in 1893 this is held by
many Libraries - often in their reference collections. The whole first volume is devoted to Cook and contains copies of official documents letters logs and accounts of the voyage. All in one place so it's very convenient to use.
Cook's Endeavour journal: the inside story
National Library of Australia. Canberra: National Library of Australia, 2008.
910.45 COO
Interprets the Endeavour journal and it's significance. *Good for school projects.
James Cook – his life and contribution to history and society
A good starting point for biographical information about anyone in Australian history is the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Here is his entry on James Cook from the ADB online edition.
The life of Captain James Cook
J.C. Beaglehole
London: A. and C. Black, 1974
910.45 COO
The classic early biography on Cook.
Voyage of the Endeavour: Captain Cook and the discovery of the Pacific
Alan Frost. St Leonards, N.S.W: Allen & Unwin, 1998.
910.45 COO
Captain James Cook
Richard Hough. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995.
910.924 COO
A well known biography of Cook.
Capt. James Cook, navigator: the achievements of Captain James Cook as a seaman, navigator and surveyor
edited by David Cordingly. Catalogue of an exhibition which toured to the Museum.
London: National Maritime Museum, 1988.
910.924 COO
Captain Cook: master of the seas
Frank McLynn. New Haven: Yale University Press, c2011
910.45 COO
Cook the Navigator
J. C. Beaglehole. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Vol. 314, No. 1516 (Dec. 16, 1969), pp. 27-38
Article Stable URL.
Longitude and empire: how Captain Cook's voyages changed the world
Brian W. Richardson. Vancouver UBC Press, 2005
910.924 COO
Captain Cook voyager between worlds
John Gascoigne: London; New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2008, c2007.
910.45 COO
Captain Cook: of royal lineage: the intriguing origins of a man of genius
Amy McGrath. Sydney: Towerhouse, 2011
910.924 COO
Looks at Cook’s family history origins.
James Cook and the conquest of scurvy
Francis E. Cuppage. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1994.
616.394009 CUP
This title looks at Cook's pioneering work on the treatment of scurvy.
Elizabeth Cook: the captain's wife, 1741-1835
Shirley Sinclair. Rushcutters Bay, N.S.W: Maritime Heritage Press, 1995
910.924 COO
Tupaia: Captain Cook's Polynesian navigator
Joan Druett. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, c2011
910.92 TUP
Conservation of Endeavour artifacts recovered in Australian waters
Restoration of cannon and other relics from H.M.B. "Endeavour"
C. Pearson. Defence Standards Laboratories (Australia). Melbourne : Defence Standards Laboratories, 1972.
623.42 PEA
Cook's cannon and anchor: the recovery and conservation of relics from HMB Endeavour
Dennis Callegari. Kenthurst, N.S.W. : Kangaroo Press, 1994.
623.42 CAL
The Preservation of Iron Cannon after 200 Years under the Sea
C. Pearson. in Studies in Conservation. Vol. 17, No. 3 (Aug., 1972), pp. 91-110
Also available online through Jstor: Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1505501
Life at sea in the Royal Navy during the 18th century
Andrew Lambert's short article on Life at sea in the Royal Navy of the 18th century is a good introduction to the topic.Jack Aubrey commands: an historical companion to the naval world of Patrick O'Brian Brian Lavery
London: Conway Maritime, c2003.
359.00941 LAV
Slightly later in period covering the age of Nelson 1793-1815 but should be readily available and from an authoritative author.
The wooden world: an anatomy of the Georgian navy
N.A.M. Rodger. London: Collins, 1986
359.00941 ROD
A standard work
Shipboard life and organization 1731-1815
Brian Lavery. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998
REF 359.00941 SHI (249203-NFL)
Rare and definitive work on the topic.
Online resources
Museums archives and libraries have placed many digitized documents and images of objects from their collections relating to Cook and the Endeavour voyage online for researchers.Primary documents - Log books and diaries etc
From the State Library of New South Wales collections Cook's Endeavour voyage and the British discovery of Australia has copies of original logs maps and artworks from the voyage and a list of Crew on the Endeavour.
The National Library of Australia's South Seas voyaging albums has more great resources including Cook's own journal and others plus maps of the Endeavour voyage.
Masters Log of the Endeavour (ADM 55)
A copy of the official Admiralty log from the British Atmospheric Data Centre website) http://badc.nerc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/corral/view_images/a=55/l=40/p=1/
Cook's voyage 1768-71 [manuscript] copies of correspondence etc
Great Britain. Admiralty 1768-71. http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms2
This digitized manuscript includes Cook's correspondence with the Victualing Office regarding food and also his secret instructions.
Trove
Trove is the National Library of Australia's gateway to information and the best place to start your Australian research project. Here you'll find books journal articles newspapers photographs all here all from Australia's libraries and collecting institutions.Here are the results of our Trove search for the Endeavour and our Trove search for James Cook
Objects and Artifacts from Museum collections
Some objects from the Australian National Maritime Museum's collection relating to James Cook and the EndeavourThe National Maritime Museum Greenwich in the UK has a very rich collection of objects relating to Cook and the Endeavour. Here are some objects we found in a search of their collection.
They also hold several original plans of the Endeavour.
Their Royal Museum Greenwich art prints service also has a category of items relating to Captain James Cook. Available to browse and purchase.
Maritime archaeology of The Endeavour
See information about the Museum's maritime archaeology teams involvement in the search for the Endeavour's last resting place in Newport Rhode Island in the section on the HMB Endeavour.
More Online Resources
The Captain Cook Society is a long established organization focusing on the study of Captain Cook. Their website has a great deal of interesting information.
The Royal Society website has a copy of the method developed by Cook for preserving the health of seamen during his voyage on the Resolution .
Also the Wikipedia entries on the Endeavour, James Cook and the Cook's 1st voyage are good quality and worth reading.