Hawkesworth collaborated with Johnson (whose prose style he closely imitated) in founding a periodical, The Adventurer. He wrote poems and articles for both these publications, adapted plays for the actor-manager David Garrick, and wrote miscellaneous original dramatic works. His cocksure attitudes alienated many friends, including Dr. Johnson. He was commissioned by the British Admiralty to compile An Account of the Voyages Undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere (1773), dealing chiefly with the voyages of exploration of Captain James Cook; but the work was severely criticized for inaccuracy and for failing to attribute escapes at sea to the workings of divine providence.