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C1773
A Chart of New South Wales, or the East Coast of New Holland. Discovered and explored by Lieutenant J.Cook, Commander of his Majesty’s Bark Endeavour, in the year MDCCLXX.
Mapmaker:
Seminal map in the charting of Australia. The discoveries made by James Cook in the Endeavour on his first voyage finally resolved the question of Terra Australis Incognito that had puzzled and intrigued explorers and cartographers for centuries. Officially, Cook was sent by the … Read Full Description
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S/N: RLAR-073-CK01E-AM-NSW-047–226368
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Full Title:
A Chart of New South Wales, or the East Coast of New Holland. Discovered and explored by Lieutenant J.Cook, Commander of his Majesty’s Bark Endeavour, in the year MDCCLXX.
Date:
C1773
Mapmaker:
Condition:
Folds as issued, minor unobtrusive tear on right side margin, otherwise in good condition.
Technique:
Original copper engraving
Image Size:
780mm
x 370mm
Frame Size:
1080mm
x 655mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1773
Description:
Seminal map in the charting of Australia. The discoveries made by James Cook in the Endeavour on his first voyage finally resolved the question of Terra Australis Incognito that had puzzled and intrigued explorers and cartographers for centuries. Officially, Cook was sent by the British Admiralty to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti but prior to his departure he was given secret instructions which set out the true nature of his mission. They provided that after observing the transit of Venus, he was to sail for the Great Southern Continent and & in the event that he found the Continent, he should chart its coasts, obtain information about its people, cultivate their friendship and alliance, and annex any convenient trading posts in the Kings name. Cook first sighted the Australian east coast on 19 April 1770 after sailing west from New Zealand and then sailed north, anchoring at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770, before methodically charting the entire east coast. It was his observations while at Botany Bay that were later used by Joseph Banks to make the case for a penal colony at Botany Bay. The voyage almost came to a fatal end when the Endeavour struck the Great Barrier Reef, which Cook subsequently named the Labyrinth. Fortunately, Cook was able to steer the ship clear to Endeavour River, near Cooktown, where she was careened for repairs. The chart is orientated with north to the right.
From John Hawkesworth’s An Account of the Voyages…in the Southern Hemisphere.
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.
