Maritime History
Book Details

H.M. Bark Endeavour

Her Place in Australian History

Ray Parkin

Here, in one accessible volume, is Ray Parkin's highly acclaimed and multi-award winning study of Captain James Cook's Bark Endeavour.

Opinion

Book of the Year 1999, NSW Premier's Literary Awards
Winner, Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction 1999, NSW Premier's Literary Awards

'Ray Parkin's H.M. Bark Endeavour . . . must rank as one of the grandest books of its kind produced in this country.'-The Australian

'This is a remarkable book . . . Parkin has a gift for words . . . Parkin's taut and vivid prose recaptures these deaths (of the sailors who perished on the journey).'-Geoffrey Blainey, The Age

'H.M. Bark Endeavour is a fine thing: 486 pages of specially imported cream paper on which Parkin tells a meticulously detailed story of Captain Cook's voyage along the east coast of Australia, plus everything there is to know about the ship and its crew . . . It is a feast for anyone with adventure in their veins . . .'-The Australian

'I can hardly describe the pleasure this wonderful book has given me . . . H. M. Bark Endeavour is a brilliant achievement. Parkin is a draughtsman artist with poetry in his words, a humble curiosity in his mind, and a direct and simple style for his pen.'-Greg Dening, The Australian

'This is the kind of work which belongs in every library . . . This is not just a book but a work of art.'-Scots

This masterpiece of both history and Australian art is a book that every australian should have in their home library.

About this Title

Here, in one accessible volume, is Ray Parkin's highly acclaimed and multi-award winning study of Captain James Cook's Bark Endeavour. This incomparable book is at once a unique account of a great journey of discovery--Endeavour's voyage up the east coast of New Holland (Australia) in the year 1770--and a remarkable re-creation of the experience of being on board ship.

Parkin draws on meticulous research to reveal what the Endeavour looked like, how she sailed, how she smelled: what daily life would have been like for those on board. No aspect of the ship is too insignificant for his enquiries. How many strands of yarn were in the ship's cable? (954) Did the ship have a lightning conductor? (Yes) What was the diameter of her main mast? (21 inches)

These details are illustrated by a series of plans and figures depicting the ship's architecture and construction, her deck plan, rigging, sails, armament, boats, cables, anchors and accommodation, beautifully drawn by Parkin himself.

A composite log of Endeavour's voyage up the east coast of Australia--extracts from journals kept by those on board--are supplemented by an interpretive commentary and a series of explanatory charts.

HM Bark Endeavour is a fitting companion to standard works on Cook's voyage. It is also an absorbing book: discursive, erudite, at times poetic; full of wisdom, insight and information.

About the Author

Melbourne-born Ray Parkin (1910-2005) was an omnivorous reader and gifted artist who largely educated himself and became a fine maritime painter. He spent eighteen years in the Royal Australian Navy, including three years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II.

After the war he became a waterfront tally clerk and wrote of his wartime experiences in Out of the Smoke, Into the Smother and The Sword and the Blossom, all published to critical acclaim by The Hogarth Press, London, in the 1960s, and republished by MUP as Ray Parkin's Wartime Trilogy. He worked on the Melbourne waterfront until his retirement in 1975 when he went to London to continue his research into Endeavour.

978-0-522-85311-7