Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request/Archive 185: Difference between revisions

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::@[[User:Ta-tea-two-te-to|Ta-tea-two-te-to]]: {{sent}} – [[user:Doc Taxon|Doc Taxon]] • <small>[[user talk:Doc Taxon|Talk]]</small> • 13:12, 30 May 2025 (UTC)

:::Thank you so much! {{tl|Resolved}} [[User:Ta-tea-two-te-to|Ta-tea-two-te-to]] ([[User talk:Ta-tea-two-te-to|talk]]) 14:02, 30 May 2025 (UTC)

== ''London Gazette'' 11 January 1780, "Obituary of James Cook" ==

<!-- Brief citation of the requested materials. -->

{{refbegin}}

* {{cite newspaper

|newspaper=London Gazette

|date=11 January 1780

|title=Obituary of James Cook

}}

The specific quote I'm looking for is:

{{blockquote|text=This untimely and ever to be lamented fate of so intrepid, so able, and intelligent a sea-officer, may justly be considered as an irreparable Loss to the public... for in him were united every successful and amiable quality that could adorn his Profession; nor was his singular modesty less conspicuous than his other virtues. His successful experiments to preserve the healths of his crews are well known, and his discoveries will be an everlasting honour to his country}}

I found that quote in a different newspaper:

* {{cite newspaper

|newspaper=The Norfolk Chronicle

|date=15 January 1780

|title=Obituary of James Cook

|volume= 554

}}

but this latter paper is apparently just reprinting the London Gazette, but a few days later? So, I'm looking for that above quote... but it has to be in the ''London Gazette''.

I'm basing the existence of this obit on a pretty solid source: the biography "Captain James Cook" by Richard Hough (page 364). I tried searching the online ''London Gazette'' archives, but could not find the above quote .. however, I ''did'' find an obiturary of James Cook in the ''London Gazette'', but it had different wording (namely ''"CAPTAIN Clerke, of his Majesty's sloop the Resolution, in a letter to Mr. Stephens, dated the 8th of June, 1779, in the harbour of Kampschatka, which was received yesterday, gives the melancholy account of the celebrated Captain Cook....'' ").

{{refend}}

<!-- Wikipedia articles being improved. -->

For [[James Cook]]

Thanks, [[User:Noleander|Noleander]] ([[User talk:Noleander|talk]]) 01:12, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/12047/page/2 This] is the only notice I found in the Gazette. [[User:FordPrefect42|FordPrefect42]] ([[User talk:FordPrefect42|talk]]) 05:49, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

::Thanks, I had found that one myself. I was looking for, apparently, a subsequent amendment to that obituary that includes that longer quote I've provided above. [[User:Noleander|Noleander]] ([[User talk:Noleander|talk]]) 06:06, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:::No hit. You should consider that Richard Hough seems to have mixed up the sources. [[User:FordPrefect42|FordPrefect42]] ([[User talk:FordPrefect42|talk]]) 13:35, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

::::It seems to me that [https://archive.org/details/cu31924006541977/page/491/mode/1up Kitson 1907 p. 491] is the source of the claim that both quotes are "from the same paper", and it has been reprinted ever since without checking the original sources. [[User:FordPrefect42|FordPrefect42]] ([[User talk:FordPrefect42|talk]]) 13:57, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

:::::Alright, that explanation is sensible. One possible sequence of events was:

:::::* The news of Cook's death arrived in London in a letter sent from Siberia

:::::* ''London Gazette'' prints fist, brief obit restating content of the letter

:::::* A few days later, ''Norfolk Chronicle'' prints a longer obit that includes the ''London Gazette'' obit, but adds some eulogy words (from unknown author) ... this eulogy is the quote I'm interested in.

:::::* Later biographers conflate the two obits, and Hough ends up erroneously citing the ''London Gazette'' for the eulogy.

:::::Thanks for all the help! {{tl|resolved}} [[User:Noleander|Noleander]] ([[User talk:Noleander|talk]]) 14:50, 31 May 2025 (UTC)