Six stamps were issued to celebrate the mapping of the island of South Georgia.  The two 70p value
stamps commemorate Cook’s survey of 1775.  

Towards the end of Cook’s Second Voyage, on 14 January, 1775, the island was discovered.  Cook called it “the Isle of Georgia” in honour of King George III.  This name and the date of discovery can be seen on the map depicted on the stamp.  Cook drew the chart with south at the top, and not using the modern convention of north at the top.  Resolution sailed along the north coast from west to east, which means from right to left along the bottom of the chart.  Cook and Forster landed at Possession Bay, which is shown on the chart.  The chart is held at The National Archives (TNA), Kew, reference MPI 86 (extracted from ADM 55/108). 

On 8 February, 1775, Forster recorded in his journal that he had suggested to Cook that he call the island “South Georgia”.  The painting of Resolution on the second stamp is by Andrew Robinson. 

Ian Boreham

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 4, volume 41, number 2 (2018).

Six stamps in a sheetlet, and a miniature sheet were issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Cook’s First Voyage.  Cook briefly landed on what was then called New Guinea on 3 September, 1770.  He then sailed on for Batavia.

The miniature sheet shows a map of the Endeavour voyage.  The six stamps in the sheetlet each have a value of K6.90, and depict

• Cook portrait by Nathaniel Dance.
• Cook memorial at Kurnell, Australia.
• A detail from the painting by Thomas Luny of what he thought Earl of Pembroke looked like leaving Whitby, before she became Endeavour.
• A detail from Cook’s 1770 chart of Botany Bay.
• Cook statue at Cooktown, Australia.
• A detail from the painting by E. Phillips Fox of Cook landing at Botany Bay in 1770.

Ian Boreham

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 12, volume 41, number 4 (2022).

Six stamps and a miniature sheet with another four stamps were issued to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Cook’s First Voyage. 

The six stamps were printed in three se-tenant pairs, with values for the 2nd class, the 1st class rate, and of £1.45. 

The 2nd class values show 

• The painting of Sir Joseph Banks by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a red-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon rubricauda) by Sydney Parkinson, and an outline drawing of a red passion flower (Passiora aurantia) by Parkinson that was finished by Frederick Polydore Nodder.
• Two paintings by Tupaia: The Chief Mourner of Tahiti, and a canoe of Tahiti.

The 1st class values show 

• Nathaniel Dance’s portrait of Captain James Cook, and a detail from Robin Brooks’s painting of Endeavour, “Triumph of the Navigators”.
• Drawings of the observations of the transit of Venus, 1769, by Charles Green and James Cook, plus a photograph of the 2004 transit, and a sextant made by Jesse Ramsden.

The £1.45 values show 

• A painting of kaka beak (Clianthus puniceus) by Parkinson and a portrait of a Maori Chief from an engraving after a lost portrait by Parkinson.
• A self-portrait of Sydney Parkinson, plus a drawing by him of a blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) at Brazil.

Two of the stamps in the miniature sheet are the 1st class rate, and the other two are £1.45. 

The 1st class values show 

• Part of a general chart by Henry Roberts of Cook’s three voyages with the tracks of the ships marked on it.  The stamp shows the track of Endeavour around New Zealand, Australia, and on to Java.
• An engraving of a boat house at Raiatea, based on a painting by Parkinson.

The £1.45 values show 

• An engraving of an arched rock, Mercury Bay, New Zealand, with a Pa on top, and Endeavour in the background, based on a painting by Parkinson.
• An engraving of Endeavour being repaired at Endeavour River, based on a painting by Parkinson. 

Ian Boreham

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 12, volume 41, number 4 (2022).