Acquired for over a century, the diverse collections of the National Library of Australia are a rich storehouse of the nation's history, and that of the Asia-Pacific region. As Australia's largest library, it provides extraordinary resources for research and reference. In collaboration with the Humanities Research Centre of The Australian National University, the National Library presents this collection of essays, and the exhibition of the same name. Cook & Omai: The Cult of the South Seas draws on the Library's collections and the documentary record to explore a fascinating chapter in the history of the Pacific, and European concerns about the nature of humankind and the world as they saw it. The catalogue and exhibition provide insight into the legacy of Omai, caught, as he was, between two worlds.

The journey of one man across half the world, from his home in Tahiti to 1770s London and then back again, provides us with a key to understanding the significance of Cook's three Pacific voyages and the cultural milieu in which they took place. Mai, better known as Omai, was discussed by scientists and philosophers, introduced to all the best circles and written about in everything from poetry to pornography. The legacy of Omai's encounter with Europe reveals a culture in a moment of transition, when old certainties were collapsing and new ones were yet to form.