• Title : A Chart of the Southern Hemisphere shewing the Tracks of some of the most distinguished Navigators by Captain James Cook of His Majestys Navy
• Ref  :  61111
• Size: 23 1/2in x 22 1/2in (605mm x 575mm)
• Date : 1777
• Condition: (A) Very Good Condition

Description:
This fine original 1st edition, copper-plate engraved, antique map, a chart of the Southern Hemisphere, was engraved by William Whitchurch in 1776 - dated - and is dedicated to the discoveries in the South Seas and Antarctic Regions of Captain James Cook during his second Voyage of Discovery between 1772 & 1775. By comparison the tracks of 11 other explorers are included, from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The map by Captain James Cook was published in the 1777 edition of A voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World. Performed in His Majestys ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the years 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775.published by William Strahan, New Street, Shoe Lane, & Thos. Cadell, in the Strand, London 1777.
This map is unique in another way, was used by Nathaniel Dance in his 1776 portrait of Captain James Cook. Please also see below for more information & above for the portrait. 

The 11 other explorers and their tracks around the Southern Hemisphere are;
1. Mendana in 1595
2. Quiros in 1606
3. Le Maire & Schouten in 1616
4. Tasman in 1642
5. Halley in 1700
6. Roggewein in 1722
7. Bouvet in 1738-39
8. Byron in 1765
9. Wallis in 1767
10. Bougainville in 1768
11. Surville in 1769
12. Cooks first and second voyages.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 23 1/2in x 22 1/2in (605mm x 575mm)
Plate size: - 23in x 21 1/2in (585mm x 545mm)
Margins: - Min 1/2in (12mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Repair as noted in plate Plate area
Plate area: - 9in repair to the left of the image from NZ to margin, no loss. Folds as issued
Verso: - Repair as noted in plate Plate area

Background: 
This map by James Cook, was published as the premier map of his second voyage to the Southern Hemisphere, dispelling forever the myth of the Great Southern Land and showing the true cartographic nature of the southern hemisphere dominated by Australia & New Zealand. The map on a South Polar Projection also shows South America, the South Atlantic Ocean, South Africa, Madagascar, Australia - with Tasmania still joined to the mainland - New Zealand and the southern Pacific Ocean with islands.
Engraved within the explorer\'s tracks are the dates of their voyages and ships tracks are particularly noted around the Antarctic Circle with notations of ice fields seen during the voyages.

Nathaniel Dance Portrait of Cook, 1776
A three-quarter-length portrait of Captain Cook, seated to the left, facing the right. He is wearing captain\'s full-dress uniform, 1774-87, consisting of a navy blue jacket, white waistcoat with gold braid and gold buttons and white breeches. He wears a grey wig or his own hair powdered. He holds his own chart of the Southern Ocean on the table and his right hand points to the east coast of Australia on it. His left thumb and finger lightly hold the other edge of the chart over his knee. His hat sits on the table behind him to the left on top of a substantial book, perhaps his journal, itself resting on the chart. In 1772, Cook sailed for the second time to the fringes of the Antarctic and the Pacific, returning in 1775. He sat for this portrait, commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks, \'for a few hours before dinner\' on 25 May 1776 but it is not known whether he did so again before he left London on 24 June for his third voyage, never to return. None the less, David Samwell, surgeon\'s mate in \'Resolution\' on the second voyage and surgeon of \'Discovery\' on the third, thought it \'a most excellent likeness ... and ... the only one I have seen that bears any resemblance to him\'. This view was based on John Sherwin\'s later engraving of the portrait, which probably argues even more favourably for the original despite an element of idealization, not least omission of a large burn scar (from 1764) on the right hand. Banks had sailed with Cook on his first voyage in the \'Endeavour\' and took an influential interest in his subsequent ones. This portrait hung over the fireplace in the library of his London house. After his death, it was presented to the Naval Gallery at Greenwich Hospital by his executor, Sir Edward Knatchbull, following a request by E.H. Locker, the Hospital Secretary. In 1781-83 Charles Grignion, then in Rome, painted a \'Death of Captain Cook\' which was sold in 1821 after the British Museum declined it as a bequest from his brother Thomas, a well-known watchmaker. That picture subsequently disappeared but Thomas\'s will says the likeness of Cook was based on the present portrait. Dance worked with Pompeo Batoni in Rome and on his return to London in 1765 achieved success as a portrait and history painter. In 1768, he joined a group of artists who successfully petitioned George III to establish the Royal Academy in that year.