The first edition of the official description of Cook’s second voyage, and his first as commander of the Resolution (1772-1775). The journey was undertaken in order to further explore the Southern Oceans and ascertain whether there were any further land masses in the southern seas.

Illustrations from a volume by Bernard Lamy (1640-1715), philosopher, theologian and mathematician, which reconstructs various structures from the Old Testament. The illustrations reproduced here show reconstructions of Noah's Ark and the Temple of Solomon. The ark is shown as a rectangular structure with two decks. On the upper deck the crew raise curtains to look out upon the flood.

Throughout the Middle Ages Islam had been the great "other" to European Christianity, as its main, and usually more successful, competitor. The animosity against Islamic civilization was such that even when translations of the Quran began to be printed in Europe by the Protestant Reformers - the first Latin translation appeared in 1543 - they were usually published with a commentary refuting Islamic doctrines.

One of the leading English mathematicians of his age, Brook Taylor was on the panel that adjudicated between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz as to who had invented infinitessimal calculus (1712). He got his doctorate the year before he published this work.

An early engraving of the elaborate funerary ceremonies practised on the island of Formosa, including mourners and elephants in procession. Or not. In reality George Psalmanazar was a Frenchman of unknown name who had certainly never been to Formosa, and had originally attempted to pass himself off as a Japanese convert to Christianity.

Illustrations from the Library's copy of one of the most sought after and attractively illustrated incunabula, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. The work, which is usually, although by no means uncontroversially, attributed to Francesco Colonna, takes the form of a dreamlike quest undertaken by the protagonist, Poliphilo, for his love Polia.

William Caxton established his first press in Bruges, ca. 1474, after learning about printing in Cologne, and in 1475 printed The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, his own translation of a work by Raoul Le Fevre and the first book printed in English. After printing several other works in French and English he moved to Westminster.

Pictures of the constellations Sagittarius and Capricorn from Thomas de Blavis's 1488 reprint of this classical work on astronomy originally published by Erhard Ratdolt in 1482.

A lavish gilt initial decorating the beginning of the text of this encyclopaedia originally written by a 13th century English Franciscan, and printed by one of the first printers based in Nurnberg. Anton Koberger was also the biggest operator in the business in both the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, running 24 presses, employing over 100 people.