This paper will examine four snapshots over the course of the long eighteenth century to highlight the changeable relationship between the Royal Navy, Pacific exploration, and publication. It will examine the publication process and the material texts, maps, and charts in an attempt to explain the changing forms and formats of geographic knowledge as they were presented to a literate audience. While the Royal Navy entered into the publication of voyage accounts to manage their public image and authenticate imperial claims, precisely how to fashion an optimum voyage account was an ongoing process of experimentation. These case studies will include the publications which stemmed from the Narbrough expedition (1669-1671), William Dampier’s voyage in the Roebuck (1699-1701), the third voyage of James Cook (1776-1780), and the Vancouver expedition (1791-1795).