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…

Acquired From: Gowrie Galleries

Colouring: Uncoloured

Condition: Very Good. Fold lines

Confirmed: No

Dealers ID No.: M288 (STK 1852.01)

Description: This map, A Chart of New South Wales, or the East Coast of New Holland, presents the first printed depiction of Australias east coast based on Captain James Cooks original manuscript surveys. Engraved for John Hawkesworths official account of Cooks first voyage, the chart is oriented with west at the top and extends from Cape York and Endeavour Straits in the north (upper right) to Point Hicks (lower left), marking the expeditions first Australian landfall.nCooks first Pacific voyage (17681771), undertaken aboard His Majestys Bark Endeavour, had dual aims: to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti and to search for the hypothesised southern continent, Terra Australis Incognita. After observing the Venus transit, Cook explored the southern Pacific, claiming islands for Britain, meticulously charting New Zealand, and then sailing westward across open seas. In April 1770, he became the first European to land on Australia's east coast, progressing northwards and narrowly surviving a grounding incident on the Great Barrier Reef. The expedition concluded in 1771 after a near three-year circumnavigation that significantly expanded European knowledge of the Pacific and established Cooks reputation as a major explorer.nThis map remains a landmark in the history of Australian cartography, providing the earliest detailed European record of the east coast and underpinning Britains future colonial interests in the region.

Engraver: Whitchurch, Isaac

First published: An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, and successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret, and Captain Cook, in the Dolphin, the Swallow, and the Endeavour, London: William Whitchurch, 1773

Image Size (cm): 36×78.5

Mapmaker: Cook, James (1728-1779)

Notes: Purchase details-date

Other states: All other later copies of this image by other publishers were unauthorised

Price: A3,520 plus gst

Primary Category: Sea Charts

Purchase Reference: Insurance Ledger June 2015

Rarity: R2 Very rare – one or two copies appear on the market

References: Dewez (2000), The Printed World III, map 160.

Sheet size (cm): 40×79

Technique: Copper Engraving

This state: 1773