A pre-Cook discoveries map of Australia

BELLIN, Jacques-Nicolas.

Carte Réduite des Terres Australes... 1753.
Paris, 1753. Coloured. 210 x 280mm.

Published less than twenty years before Cook's First Circumnavigation, this map is one of the few 18th century maps devoted to Australia. It shows how little was known about the eastern half of the continent 150 years after discovery: Bellin has hachured an unbroken coastline between Tasmania, Espiritu Santo and New Guinea, but adds a note that he supposes those lands are joined, 'mais sans preuves' (without proof). To the west Tasmania is joined to Nuytsland by another coastline marked 'conjecturale'. To the east is the partial outline of New Zealand.


Stock ID : 22937