Catalog Archive
Auction 176, Lot 688

"The Landing at Erramanga One of the New Hebrides", Cook, James (Capt.)

Subject: Erromango, Vanuatu

Period: 1777 (dated)

Publication: A Voyage Towards the South Pole

Color: Hand Color

Size:
18.3 x 9.4 inches
46.5 x 23.9 cm
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Captain James Cook (1728-1779) is best known for his three voyages to the Pacific (1768-71; 1772-75; and 1776-79). His discoveries radically changed the western understanding of the world in the late 18th century. He was the first to circumnavigate and chart New Zealand and provided the earliest European accounts of exploration along the eastern coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands. On February 14th, 1779, he was killed on Hawaii after attempting to kidnap the chief of the island.

Many contemporary accounts of Cook’s voyages, including charts and engravings, appeared in the late 18th century. The first official account of Cook’s first voyage was published in 1773 by John Hawkesworth in Volumes II and III of An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for Making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere... William Strahan and Thomas Cadell published the first official accounts of the second and third voyages in 1777 and 1784. Accounts of his exploration were subsequently translated into French, German, and Dutch.

This engraving depicts Cook's landing party met by a group of angry natives whose spears are raised. Cook is aiming his rifle as his men push off from the shore in their boat. This dramatic scene the foretells the future. The engraving appeared in the official account of Cook's second voyage, A Voyage Towards the South Pole, published by Strahan and Cadell. Engraved by J. K. Sherwin from a painting by William Hodges.

References: Shirley (BL Atlases) G.COOK-1a.

Condition: A

A dark impression, issued folding and now flattened with minor marginal soiling.

Estimate: $120 - $150

Unsold

Closed on 2/12/2020

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