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Secondary sourceBook1907

The Life of Captain James Cook (LibriVox audio)

Arthur Octavius Kitson · 1907

A LibriVox volunteer reading of Arthur Kitson's 1907 popular biography of James Cook, released into the public domain.

This later popular biography describes Cook's career and is useful for comparing a secondary account with Cook's own records.

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Arthur Octavius Kitson, The Life of Captain James Cook, 1907; LibriVox volunteer audio reading.

About this source

What it is

This entry is a LibriVox audio recording of The Life of Captain James Cook, a popular biography by Arthur Octavius Kitson first published in 1907. The recording is a volunteer reading of the text, made recently, and it is not Cook's own voice. The book opens with a preface in which Kitson explains that he condensed his longer work on Cook but corrected some errors and added new information about documents. The book includes a portrait and map.

Why it matters

Kitson wrote his biography more than a century after Cook's death, so it is a later account that draws on earlier records. It shows how Cook was presented to readers in the early 1900s, when popular histories of explorers were widely read. The volunteer reading makes the text easier to hear, but it does not add any new evidence about Cook.

Look closer

  • What does Kitson say he changed when he made the popular edition, and what might he have left out?
  • How does hearing a volunteer reading affect the way you understand the text?
  • How could you check Kitson's account against Cook's own journals or documents?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of James Cook on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Oil painting of a seated man in a navy blue captain's uniform with gold braid and gold buttons over a white waistcoat. He has grey hair, holds a chart on his lap, and a tricorn hat rests on a table beside him, with sea visible through a window at left.Painting

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Captain James Cook, 1728-79

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Oval engraved portrait of Captain James Cook in a naval-style uniform with a high collar and cravat, hair curled at the sides, set within a decorative oval frame. Caption below reads 'Captain James Cook, F.R.S.' with publication credits along the bottom margin.Painting

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James Cook, line engraving by Basire after Hodges

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Sketchings of the 1769 Venus Transit

James Cook and Charles Green · 1769

Engraved portrait of a man with white powdered hair, wearing a dark coat over a striped waistcoat and cravat, against a dark background. Below the portrait is a small scene of men in conflict on a shore, with figures wielding weapons. Inscriptions read N. Dance. del. and Rivers. sculp.Painting

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James Cook, engraving by Rivers after Dance-Holland

Nathaniel Dance-Holland · 1776

Engraved sea chart titled 'Chart of New Zealand, explored in 1769 and 1770' by Lieut. J. Cook, Commander of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour. Shows North and South Islands with coastal names, soundings, compass roses, and a rhumb-line grid. Title and an explanation box appear at top.Document

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Chart of New Zealand, explored in 1769 and 1770

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