Customer Reviews

Pacific Images: Views from Captain Cook's Third Voyage

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Pacific Images by Nordyke and Mattison gives an outstanding history of Captain James Cooks third voyage, from 1776 to 1780. The reproduction of words and pictures from this voyage brings together preceptions of the journalists and artists of the time. The pictures include animals and people (body piercing is not a new thing!) as well as activities of the peoples with sweeping views of the landscape. The authors did an excellent job of presenting the facts in vivid detail after two decades of research. This book not only looks like it belongs on every coffee table, but also can be used as an excellent historical resource.

This is a beautiful book in every respect other than its rather boring dustcover. It presents all of the illustrations by Cook's artists on his Third Voyage, and links those to journal entries from the voyage in a way that conveys the impressions of the other ship's officers to expand our understanding of the artists' vision. An excellent acquisition for research scholars as well as those who just enjoy looking at these superb illustrations in an elegantly-produced format. For my much fuller review of this book see Museum Anthropology Review online.