Captain Cook’s map of New South Wales

A French edition of the first published map of the east coast of Australia, engraved by Bénard for the Paris edition of Hawkesworth's important work 'An Account of the Voyages for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere', first published 1773. After observing the Transit of Venus from Tahiti, Cook's brief was to search for the 'Terra Australis Incognita'. Sailing west he accurately mapped New Zealand for the first time, then moved north, discovering the east coast of Australia. Orientated with north to the right, the chart shows Captain Cook's route from Cape Howe north to Cape York. However, having already run aground once, Cook sailed outside the dangerous reefs and so the coast between Cape Flattery and Cape Weymouth was not mapped.