COOK, Captain James. [Italian edition of Cook's map of Tahiti]
Carta dell'Isola di Taiti, del Luogotenente J. Cook 1769. Italy, c.1775. 225 x 405mm.
Cook's mission on his First Voyage to the South Seas was to observe the passage of Venus across the Sun in 1769, at the request of the Royal Society. In the three months he stayed he sailed round the island in a small boat, a trip which resulted in this map. To the north can be seen 'Point Venus'.
[Ref: 11122]    £150.00 ($231 • €182 rates)

COOK, Captain James. [Tongan Islands]
Chart of the Friendly Islands. Dublin: The United Company of Booksellers, c.1784. 250 x 350mm.
This map marks Cook's route around the Tongan islands, which he discovered in 1773, The islands are also known as the Friendly Islands because of the friendly reception accorded to Captain Cook. He happened to arrive at the time of the yearly donation of the first fruits to the Tu'i Tonga, the islands chief, and was invited to the festivities. According to the writer William Mariner, in reality the chiefs had wanted to kill Cook during the gathering, but had been unable to agree on a plan. The maps from a rare Irish pirate edition of the account of his second Voyage. The United Company of Booksellers was a loose conglomeration of publishers. The National Library of Canada states the 1784 Dublin edition was published by H.Chamberlaine and 26 others!
[Ref: 7861]    £150.00 ($231 • €182 rates)

CASSINI, Giovanni Maria. [Tahiti]
L'Isola O-Tahiti scoperta dal Cap. Cook, Con le Marchesi di Mendoza. Rome, 1798. Coloured. 375 x 550mm.
Published in the scarce atlas, the 'Nuovo atlante geografico universale', this map is one of the most decorative of the island. Cook's mission on his First Voyage to the South Seas was to observe the passage of Venus across the Sun in 1769, at the request of the Royal Society. During the three months he stayed on the island he sailed round it in a small boat, a trip which resulted in this map. To the north can be seen 'Point Venus'. An inset show the Marquesas Islands.
[Ref: 7341]    £1,250.00 ($1,925 • €1,513 rates)

CASSINI, Giovanni Maria. [Society Islands]
Le Isole degli Amici Delineate sulle Observazioni del Cap. Cook. Rome, 1798. Coloured. 505 x 370mm.
Published in the scarce atlas, the 'Nuovo Atlante Geografico Universale', this map is one of the most decorative of Tonga. Taken from the accounts of Captain Cook, who called the chain the Friendly Islands, it has an illustrated title cartouche and three insets.
[Ref: 7522]    £400.00 ($616 • €484 rates)

CASSINI, Giovanni Maria. [Society Islands]
Le Isole della Società e di Noel Delineate sulle Observazioni del Cap. Cook. Rome, 1798, coloured, 375 x 550mm.
Published in the scarce atlas, the 'Nuovo Atlante Geografico Universale', this map is one of the most decorative of the Society Islands. Taken from the accounts of Captain Cook, it has an illustrated title cartouche and an inset of Christmas Island.
[Ref: 7537]    £400.00 ($616 • €484 rates)

DUMONT D'URVILLE, Jules Sébastian César. Carte Des Archipels Taïti, Pomotou, Nouka-Hiva, &a. Paris, Vincendon-Dumoulin, 1843, coloured, 610 x 900mm
A large map of parts of Polynesia explored by Dumont D'Urville aboard "L'Astrolabe" in 1826, during his expedition to find out the fate of La Pérouse.
[Ref: 8127]    £650.00 ($1,001 • €787 rates)