Cook’s famous chart of the ‘Labyrinth’ where the Endeavour hit a reef while sailing through the Great Barrier Reef and luckily was able to be taken to shore and careened for repairs. It was here near present-day Cooktown that Bank’s the botanist and crew captured the first kangaroo. The first detailed map of the Australian east coast from the official accounts of Cook’s first voyage. The Endeavour a converted collier, chosen by the Cook for its suitability for coastal navigation because of it’s flat-bottomed design. This allowed sailing in shallow waters and for it to be beached for loading and unloading.

From a Dutch text edition of Captain Cook's voyages this detailed coastal chart, engraved by C. van Baarsel, shows the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, oriented north to the right of the page.

The unknown southern land (Terra Australis Incognita) was known as New Holland after the Dutch charted the west coast when blown off course during voyages to the Spice Islands (Indonesia). This is an important map for any collector of Captain Cook's discoveries which were so important they were re-issued in other countries and languages as soon as his voyages were published in England.

Captain James Cook is considered one of the most talented Surveyors & Map Makers of any age, for Cook, the production of a new chart was his principal reason for going to sea. His charts were aimed at fellow seamen so he incorporated as much information as possible while employing an economy of style and little elaboration. The quality of his charts can be confirmed by the fact that some survey details from Newfoundland to New Zealand & Australia’s East Coast could still be safely used over one hundred years later. His last piece of the New Zealand hydrographic chart was only removed in the 1990s.

Prior to the Endeavour voyage in 1768 to the South Seas, most existing charts of the Pacific were poor and imprecise and were virtually useless to Cook. Cook, therefore, had a largely blank canvas when he entered the Pacific. Four charts produced by Cook in the Pacific, during his 1st voyage, serve to demonstrate his ability and output. The charts of Tahiti, the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) New Zealand & the East Coast of Australia.

A must-have map for those interested in the early mapping of the Australian Continent.