Captain James Cook’s South Pacific Logbook to Auction

A rare holograph fragment from Captain James Cook’s logbook from his second voyage to the South Pacific comes to auction later this month at Bonhams with an estimate of $80,000–$120,000.

The two-page fragment dated July 22 and 24, 1773, written by Cook shows the British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer’s meticulous daily record-keeping at sea during the voyage that helped to redraw the world map. This is only the second time the fragment has appeared at auction in more than 30 years, and it remains the only known surviving portion of Cook’s log to be recorded at auction.

Also on offer is a rare, signed portion of Royal Navy officer and explorer George Vancouver’s log from his Voyage of the Discovery, one of the most ambitious mapping expeditions of the Pacific Northwest. Estimated at $80,000 – 120,000, the two-page document, dated March and April 1791, details the expense of gunners’ stores aboard the HMS Discovery, the lead sloop of the expedition. Only two portions from the log of the HMS Discovery have been recorded at auction in the last 40 years.

Other highlights from Bonhams' Americana, Exploration and Travel sale running October 13-23 include:

• the rare first edition of Thomas Paine's The American Crisis, estimated at $80,000 – $120,000
• a rare first edition presentation copy of Emanuel Goughnour’s privately printed Gold Rush memoir, Across the Plains in 49, estimated at $12,000 – $18,000
• a first edition presentation copy of New-England's Rarities Discovered: in Birds, Beasts, Fishes, serpents, and Plants of that Country, the earliest work on the natural history of New England, estimated at $12,000 – 18,000