Acquired From: Gowrie Galleries
Colouring: Uncoloured
Condition: Excellent
Confirmed: 28/09/2024
Date Acquired: 9/10/2002
Dealers ID No.: M496 (STK 1332.01)
Description: Gilles Robert de Vaugondy was commissioned to create maps to accompany a lecture by Charles de Brosses, a member of the Académie Royale des Sciences. These maps were later included in de Brosses's two-volume collection on early Pacific voyages, Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australe, which aimed to promote French commercial ventures and colonisation in the region. In the book, de Brosses proposed a classification of the newly discovered islands into three groups: Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. James Cook carried de Brosses's book, which featured de Vaugondys map, during his first Pacific voyage aboard the Endeavour (17681771), including his circumnavigation of New Zealand in 17691770.This map of Australasia presents the yet unexplored coastline of Nouvelle Hollande (Australia) as a single continuous landmass, with Tasmania connected to the mainland. It follows the French cartographic tradition, combining existing knowledge with conjecture. After Abel Tasmans explorations of Tasmania and northern Australia in 164243 and 1644, no further mapping of New Hollands coastline occurred until Cooks discovery of the east coast in 1770. De Vaugondy speculates that the known coastline of Terre de Diemen (Tasmania) is linked to Terre du St. Esprit (Vanuatu) and to the northern tip of Carpentarias coastline (Cape York).
Engraver: De-la-Haye, Guillaume-Nicholas
First published: de Brosses, Charles, Histoire des navigations aux terres australes. Paris: Durand, 1756
Image Size (cm): 23.2×28.4
Mapmaker: Vaugondy, Gilles Robert de (1688-1766)
Price: A3,200 plus gst
Primary Category: Australia
Purchase Reference: Inv. 1309. Letter 2 Sept 2002
Rarity: R3 Uncommon – dealers can usually obtain a copy
References: Richards and OConnor, eds., Changing Coastlines: Putting Australia on the World Map: 1493-1993, 23. Smon Dewez, The Printed World III, pg 58, map 156. Robert Clancy, The Mapping of Terra Australis, 94, map 6.30.
Sheet size (cm): 26×38
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1756
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