Facsimile copy of James Cook's description of the Transit of Venus, 3 June, 1769.
Ref. Number. MS-Papers-0200-24-1
Acknowledgement to: James Cook Papers, Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, NZ.

The document has been printed using the photo-lithographic process. Lithography was invented in 1798 and involves drawing an image onto a stone, metal or plastic plate with a special greasy crayon, chalk, paint or ink. The plate is then saturated with water and the printing ink applied. The ink adheres only to those parts covered by the crayon or other drawing medium. Photo-lithography, the method by which this facsimile was produced, was introduced in the 1870s and is a process by which the image is reproduced on the plate using photography.