Sacred to Cook’s Immortal Name … : The original context and meaning of an ‘engraved portrait’ of Captain Cook

Abstract

There are hundreds of impressions of engravings relating to the person, life and voyages of Captain Cook in collections around the world. Many, however, are disassociated from the original contexts of their publication and are thus of limited historical use. Beginning with a single, radically trimmed impression in the Ashmolean Museum, a detailed account is provided of one particular engraving. It is shown that it was originally published as a frontispiece to a volume of the Universal Magazine, whose previously overlooked role in the dissemination of knowledge about Cook’s voyages is then demonstrated. Accounts are provided of the specific context in which the engraving was published and the specific meaning it was intended to convey.