Antique Prints, Maps, & Books of Natural History, Botanicals, & More
Lot 514:
Description
This fascinating engraving is from Captain James Cook & John Hawkesworth’s
Relation des Voyages entrepris par ordre de Sa Majesté Britannique… or
An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere. The work was published in Paris by Saillant & Nyon and Panckoucke in 1774. It is the first edition in French on Cook’s first voyage.
Cook’s first voyage of three, taking place between 1768 and 1771, was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the South Pacific aboard the HMS Endeavour. Departing from the Plymouth Dockyard in August 1768, the expedition crossed the Atlantic and reached Tahiti in time to observe the transit of Venus before setting off into the largely uncharted ocean to the south. In 1769, the crew reach New Zealand, and spent six months charting the coast before resuming their journey westward. In 1770 the crew became the first Europeans to reach the east coast of Australia before rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1771 and returning to England the summer of that year.
"The famous accounts of Captain Cook’s three voyages form the basis for any collection of Pacific books. In three great voyages Cook did more to clarify the geographical knowledge of the southern hemisphere than all his predecessors had done together. He was really the first scientific navigator and his voyages made great contributions to many fields of knowledge." (Hill)
"Cook earned his place in history by opening up the Pacific to western civilization and by the foundation of British Australia. The world was given for the first time an essentially complete knowledge of the Pacific Ocean and Australia, and Cook proved once and for all that there was no great southern continent, as had always been believed. He also suggested the existence of antarctic land in the southern ice ring, a fact which was not proved until the explorations of the nineteenth century." (Printing and the Mind of Man p.135)
Paper Size: ~ 23 1/4" by 23" (Fold Out)
Paper Type or Special Features: Engraving
Condition report:
The work is in very good to excellent condition overall. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions.
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