杏吧原创

In the 250 years since he set sail from Plymouth, readings of James Cook鈥檚 three maritime expeditions have zigzagged as wildly as the drunken-looking course of his vessels around the islands of the South Pacific. Did the self-made captain and cartographer from Teesside circumnavigate the globe three times in search of wonder, or plunder? Did his ships Endeavour, Resolution and Discovery blaze a watery trail for science or commerce, Enlightenment or imperialism? If the correct answer is (inevitably) 鈥渁ll of the above鈥�, then the curators of a major Cook-themed exhibition must find a way to showcase those clashes of interpretation, those tidal flows of judgement.

William Frame, co-curator of聽, at the British Library, explains that the instructions initially passed by the Admiralty (Britain鈥檚 naval high command) to Cook in 1768 鈥渋ntertwine the pursuit of scientific knowledge with what are clearly geopolitical interests鈥�. While the Admiralty urged Cook 鈥� already a promising navigator and map-maker 鈥� to 鈥渢ake possession of Convenient Situations鈥� in the name of King George III, Lord Morton, President of the Royal Society of London, warned him that 鈥淣o European聽Nation has the right to occupy any part鈥� of the lands he visited.

Through its design, artefacts and documents, and in specially commissioned short films, the British Library show invites us to join an argument that began on board Cook鈥檚 ships themselves. From Tahiti to Alaska, New Zealand to Hawaii, each of the territories visited over three three-year expeditions (between 1768 and 1780) prompted debate and dissent among the scientists, artists, artisans and mariners who made Cook鈥檚 parties a floating epitome of Enlightenment Europe. Disagreements triggered then continue to this day.

Perspective drawing

Take Cook鈥檚 violent death in Hawaii in 1779, depicted here both as the martyrdom of a peace-maker by ship鈥檚 artist John Webber, and as the killing in open combat of an armed invader by John Cleveley (whose brother had served in the crew). Journals by expedition members also clash. And what about the views of the Hawaiians themselves at that time 鈥� or the Tongans, Tahitians, Maoris and Aboriginal Australians?

Their contemporary responses, although patchily recorded, inform the displays in a way that a 200th anniversary show would probably have overlooked. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now very much looking at the perspective of the people [Cook] encountered,鈥� says co-curator Laura Walker. Above all, we have the infographic-style drawings and nautical charts of the artist, priest and navigator Tupaia, from Raiatea near Tahiti.

He collaborated with Cook, naturalist and expedition funder Joseph Banks, and the expedition artists, on their first voyage. Tupaia caused astonishment when, 4000 kilometres from home in New Zealand, he was able to converse with the Maori in a shared language.

From kangaroos to penguins, temples to war canoes, lagoons to icebergs, the artwork produced on board by John Webber, Sydney Parkinson, William Hodges and their comrades dazzles. (As Laura Walker says of Hodges鈥檚 grand panoramas, 鈥淗ow he did that on a moving ship I have no idea.鈥�) Their meticulous illustration 鈥� which helped make the charismatic Banks an intellectual celebrity 鈥� blends close-focus observation with expressions of then current (and now deeply troublesome) ideas of the 鈥渘oble savage鈥� and 鈥渆arthly paradise鈥�.

Lasting legacy

Despite these preconceptions, European knowledge 鈥� of sea otters and breadfruit, Polynesian languages and inter-island navigation, the coastlines of New Zealand and the rituals of Tonga, iceberg formation and tattoo art 鈥� did explode in Cook鈥檚 wake. His voyages debunked the myth of a 鈥淕reat Southern Continent鈥�, drew firmer outlines around Australasia, and came within 120km of Antarctica itself.

In maps, manuscripts and engravings, we witness the sunshine and shadow of Western discovery: the friendly greetings and fatal quarrels; the gathered specimens and disrupted ecosystems; the high-risk transfer of crops, livestock, microbes and (after Banks鈥檚 advocacy of transportation) human beings.

If this exhibition gives us the tools to circumvent the 鈥淓uropean lens鈥� of Cook鈥檚 colleagues and hagiographers, it still provokes awe in the face of such an epic enterprise. This farmer鈥檚 son re-drew聽Europe鈥檚 map of the world.

continues at the British Library, London, until 28 August 2018.

Boyd Tonkin is a writer, journalist and critic