C1784

Chart of the NW Coast of America and NE Coast of Asia explored in the years 1778 & 1779. The unshaded parts of the Coast Asia are taken from a MS Chart received from the Russians.

Mapmaker:

Seminal c.17th chart of the northwest coast of America, from Captain James Cook’s third voyage (1776–1780), drawn by Lieutenant Henry Roberts and engraved for the official atlas accompanying A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (London, 1784). The map traces Cook’s … Read Full Description

$A 1,750

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S/N: CK03E-MAP-CAN-2269–198737

(CBD 01)

Categories: Canada, United States, AMERICAS, CAPTAIN COOK, MAPS & GLOBES

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Details

Full Title:

Chart of the NW Coast of America and NE Coast of Asia explored in the years 1778 & 1779. The unshaded parts of the Coast Asia are taken from a MS Chart received from the Russians.

Date:

C1784

Mapmaker:

Henry Roberts (1756 - 1796)

Mapmaker:

James Cook (1728 - 1779)

Condition:

Small repaired tear at left as often found, otherwise in good condition, with folds as issued. Uncoloured as issued.

Technique:

Copper engraving.

Image Size:

673mm

x 388mm

Paper Size:

717mm

x 471mm

Genuine antique
dated:

1784

Description:

The map traces Cook’s and Clerke’s explorations along the northwest coast of America from Oregon to Alaska, and across the Bering Strait to the northeast coast of Asia, including Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands.

The chart represents one of the earliest and most accurate delineations of the Alaskan coastline and the first systematic survey of the Bering Strait region. The notation regarding the “MS Chart received from the Russians” acknowledges the incorporation of contemporary Russian geographic intelligence into Cook’s findings.

A landmark in eighteenth-century cartography, the map marks the culmination of European efforts to define the northern Pacific and to resolve the enduring question of a navigable Northwest Passage.

From Cook & King, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean Undertaken by the Command of His Majesty, for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere….

References:
Beddie, M. Bibliography of Captain James Cook, RN,FRS, Circumnavigator. Sydney 1970:: 1714-36, p.332.
Wagner, H.R. Cartography of the Northwest Coast of America to the Year 1800. Amsterdam 1968 :: 696, p.348..

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2825535

Henry Roberts (1756 - 1796)

Roberts was an officer in the Royal Navy who served with Captain Cook on his last two voyages. Roberts served as lieutenant on Cook's HMS Discovery, where he was entrusted with many hydrographic and cartographic tasks, and also met then-midshipman George Vancouver. Roberts spent many years after that voyage preparing the detailed charts that went into Cook's posthumous Atlas. He was also on Cook's HMS Resolution where he was to make a painting of the ship. In 1790, Roberts was appointed commander of the newly built HMS Discovery on another round-the-world voyage with George Vancouver as his first lieutenant. However, the Nootka Crisis called both men to duty elsewhere, and upon its resolution, Vancouver was given command of the historic voyage. Roberts died on 25 August 1796, Captain of HMS Undaunted in the West Indies, where he contracted yellow fever.

View other items by Henry Roberts

James Cook (1728 - 1779)

Cook was the most important navigator of the Age of Enlightenment, a period that saw the mystery of the Southland resolved, the discovery of New Zealand, Hawaii, numerous Pacific Islands and confirmation that a Northwest Passage did not exist. Cook was born in Yorkshire, England, the son of a Scottish labourer and apprenticeship for three years under John Walker, a Quaker coal-shipper of Whitby. In 1755 Walker offered him a command, but instead Cook joined HMS Eagle and within a month was master's mate. After two years on the Channel service, he was promoted master of the Pembroke, and in 1758 crossed the Atlantic in her and took part in the siege of Louisburg and the survey of the St Lawrence River that led to the capture of Quebec. Returning to England in 1762 he married Elizabeth Batts (1742-1832?) of Shadwell, whom he was to rarely see in the ensuing years at sea. Cook then famously commanded three voyages that ended with his death on the island of Hawaii on 14 February 1779.

View other items by James Cook