The first folio map to show Cook's Third Voyage and the discovery of Hawaii

LOTTER, Tobias Conrad.

Carte de l'Ocean Pacifique au Nord de l'Equateur, et des Cotes qui le bornent des deux côtés: d'apres les derniers Découvertes faites par les Espagnols, les Russes et les Anglois, jusqu'en 1780.
Augsburg, 1781. Original body colour. 490 x 565mm.

An important map of the Pacific north of the equator, showing the route of Captain Cook on his Third Voyage, 1776-80, which was sent to try to find the North-West Passage from the west side of America. After visiting Tasmania and returning Omai to Tahiti, Cook sailed north to Hawaii, arriving on the 18th January 1778 as the first European visitor to the archipelago. Heading north again, the expedition explored the west coast of America before passing through the Bering Strait, only to be blocked by the ice wall. Cook then turned back to return to Hawaii, where he was stabbed to death in a violent confrontation. Captain Charles Clerke took over command and decided to make another attempt on the Bering Strait, this time following the Asiatic coast north. Again defeated by the icewall the expedition turned south, and, after Clerke died of tuberculosis, followed the East India Trade Route home from China, arriving in October 1780.

This map is the first folio atlas map to show the new discoveries, pre-dating the official account by four years: according to the text under the map it is based on one published in the Gentleman's Magazine in December 1780.


Stock ID : 18095