The Last Voyage of Captain Cook: The Collected Writings of John Ledyard

by John Ledyard, James Zug (Editor)

The Last Voyage Of Captain Cook Meet John Ledyard, perhaps the greatest little-known explorer in American history. Ledyard (1751-1789) sailed with Capt. James Cook, formed a fur trading company with John Paul Jones, and dreamed, with Thomas Jerfferson, of walking across United States 20 years before Lewis and Clark set off on their famous expedition. Ledyard's journals, letters, and one published book, collected for the first time in one volume, showcase the uncontainable wanderlust of a unique American spirit. A Journal of Captain's Cook Last Voyage is the only account of Cook's third voyage to be published by an American. It is a vivid record of life aboard the first ship to sail to the Hawaiian islands and Cook's violent death on Hawaiian beach. Ledyard's Siberian journals recount a harrowing journey through Russia under the rule of Catherine the Great, while his diary from Alexandria and Cairo provides a brilliant and rare account of Egypt before Napoleon's invasion. Finally, Ledyard's correspondence sheds light on pre-revolutionary Paris and on his friendships with the Marquis de Lafayette, Benjamin Franklin, and Sir Jospeh Banks. In his short life, John Ledyard traveled farther than any American had before. His writings are an invitation to savor the romance of exploration and the wonder of discovery.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Travel

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

John Ledyard (1751 - 1789) was an American explorer and adventurer.

He was born in Groton, Connecticut, in November 1751. He was the first child of Abigail Youngs Ledyard and Capt. John Ledyard Jr, son of Squire John Ledyard Sr. A day or so after the child was born, Capt. John boarded his father's ship and sailed for the West Indies. Three years later Ledyard joined his grandfather in Hartford, Connecticut, where he attended school. His grandfather died just before Ledyard turned 20 (Squire Ledyard died in September 1771; grandson John III was about three months shy of 21 years of age at the Squire's death).

Ledyard briefly attended Dartmouth College (which was then only 3 years old), arriving on 22 April 1772. He left for two months without permission in August and September of that year, led a mid-winter camping expedition, and finally abandoned the college for good in May 1773. Memorably, he fashioned his own dugout canoe, and paddled it for a week down the Connecticut River to his grandfather's farm. Today, the Ledyard Canoe Club, a division of the Dartmouth Outing Club, sponsors an annual canoe trip down the Connecticut River in his honor. At loose ends, he decided to travel; "I allot myself a seven-year's ramble more," he wrote to a cousin. He shipped as a common seaman on a year-long trading voyage to Gibraltar, the Barbary Coast, and the Caribbean. On his next voyage, he jumped ship in Portsmouth, England, but was soon impressed and forced to join the British Navy as a marine.

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely fascinating. read it after visiting new Zealand and some of the places capt. Cooke visited. very well researched and written

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I'm not sure what I was really expecting from this. It was interesting, up to a point. But it took me close to a year to make myself finish it. Not a pleasure.

[Sandra Rovers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but not always that fascinating.