[Cook’s Discovery of Eastern Australia] Carte de la Nle. Galles Merid. ou de la Cote Oriental de la Nle. Hollande.

$1,500

Cartographer(s): Captain James Cook, John Hawkesworth, Robert Benard
Date: 1774
Place: Paris
Dimensions: 80.5 x 40.5 cm (31.7 x 16 in)
Condition Rating: VG

In stock

SKU: NL-01183 Category: Tags: ,

The first French edition of Cook’s chart of New South Wales — a landmark map for the cartography of Australia.

Details

Considered in many academic circles to be among the most important charts to result from Cook’s famous search for the mythical Terra Australis, this map depicts the eastern coast of Australia. It is oriented with north to the right, and sweeps from Point Hicks and Botany Bay (Sydney), to Cape York and Endeavor Straits. The chart was published in the French language edition of John Hawkesworth’s official account of Cook’s First Voyage.

Cook’s mapping of eastern Australia was one of his primary cartographic contributions. It was achieved on his First Voyage, which set out on August 26, 1768, crossing into the Pacific via Cape Horn. While the chief mapping goal of the expedition was to expand humanity’s scientific knowledge of the cosmos, Cook’s Endeavor was also tasked with searching for Terra Australis, the vast continent believed by geographers since Antiquity to exist in the Southern Hemisphere.

After surveying Tahiti and parts of New Zealand, the expedition arrived at what is now Botany Bay in April of 1770. From here they set out to create history’s first published chart of the eastern coast of Australia. It was a remarkable achievement, with the perils of the Great Barrier Reef looming underneath at all times. The original manuscript for this map is currently held in the British Library.

For a better idea of the scope of this map, check out this georeferenced image at the David Rumsey Map Collection:

https://davidrumsey.georeferencer.com/maps/df1490cf-b0a8-5609-bd70-82d1ee2aaf4a/view

Cartographer(s):

Captain James Cook

Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to Australia in particular. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

John Hawkesworth

John Hawkesworth (ca. 1715 – 1773) was a London-based editor who in 1772 was commissioned to compile and publish the journals of Captain James Cook.

Robert Benard

Robert Bénard (1734 – 1785) was a French engraver and publisher from Paris.

Condition Description

Wear and surface blemishes (perhaps from use at sea?). Overall a nice example.

References

OCLC 977416224. Australia in Maps, (National Library of Australia), page 51. National Library of Australia, MAP T 325. Tooley, R.V. (Australia) 325, pl. 20. Tooley, R.V., Bricker, C.; Crone, Gerald Roe, Landmarks of Mapmaking; an Illustrated Survey of Maps and Mapmakers, p. 263. Clancy, R. 6.33. Perry, T. M., and Prescott, D. F., A Guide to Maps of Australia in Books Published 1780-1830, 1773.02.

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