ARTIST:	Giovanni Maria Cassini
DATES:	Italian 1745 - 1820
TITLE:	La Nuova Zelanda 1798
MEDIUM:	Lithograph - Hand-coloured
SIZE:	48 x 36 cm
REMARKS:	The rarest and most decorative map of New Zealand. ‘La Nouva Zelanda’ records the landmarks Captain Cook noted on his First Voyage to New Zealand in 1769/70 and the names he gave them. The dotted line traces the path of Cook's exploration on board HMS Endeavour, which is depicted at anchor with naval officers and Maori people in the map's cartouche.
$NZ:	Category A
Available Unframed $NZ400, Framed $NZ650 Cook's Chart of New Zealand 1769 - 1770: The most significant, and the most reproduced, map of New Zealand is Captain James Cook's Chart of New Zeland of the Islands of Aeheinomouwe and Tovypoenammu, completed after the first of his three visits to the South Pacific. Sponsored by the Royal Society and arranged by the Admiralty, the first objective of the English captain's voyage was to observe the transit of Venus in Tahiti. From there the Endeavour sailed south to investigate the Great Southern Continent. Having first made landfall at - and named - Poverty Bay in October 1769, Cook and his crew went on to spend six months circumnavigating the islands of New Zealand. While sailing around the country, Cook chartered the coastlines of the North, South and Stewart islands, naming landmarks as he went. Many of Cook's names are still in use today. The track of the Endeavour is marked on the chart. Given the time and technology available to Cook and his crew, the chart they eventually produced is impressively accurate. Only two small areas of coast were not closely documented, resulting in two mistakes: Stewart Island is shown as a peninsula and, conversely, Banks Peninsular is shown as an island. While Cook was chartering the coastline, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander were carrying out a scientific study of the flora and fauna of the country. When the Endeavour set sail for England in early April 1770, she carried with her a wealth of knowledge of the lands her crew had rediscovered. The studies made by Cook and his crew resulted in significant changes in European thinking about the South Pacific. The coastline of New Zealand was now well understood, and the vegetation and bird life of the country had been documented. The country's isolation had also been established and the myth of the Great Southern Land had been well and truly shattered. La Nuova Zelanda Delineata Sulle Osservazioni Del Capitan Cook...1798. G.M. Cassini, Nuova Atlante Geografico Universale 3 Vols. (Rome, 1792-1801), Plate 35, Vol. 3. Remarks on Map: In this decorative map longitude is reckoned from a prime meridian passing over the Canary Islands. If the Canary Islands, or the Peak of Tenerife, had been selected for the international prime meridian in 1884, instead of Greenwich, the date line today would pass over the Tasman Sea as in this map. The copper plate used by Cassini in printing his map of New Zealand is preserved in the Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica, via Della Stamperia 6, Rome. Unfortunately much of the southern west coast was covered by fog when Cook arrived there, so he was unable to chart it as accurately as Tasman and Visscher had done. Never the less he made out Cape Foulwind and Rocks Point before leaving Cape Farewell on Sunday 1 April 1770. Much impressed with what he had seen in six months, Cook wrote that New Zealand was "The properest place we have seen yet for establishing a colony”. This chart has served as a basis for all further charts of New Zealand. Indeed, some of his maps of particular areas such as Dusky Bay have only been replaced quite recently. This hand coloured lithographic print was published as a limited edition of 1500 in 1999. It is printed on specially imported Freelife Felt Cover 213 gsm paper that was chosen to complement the map’s fine draughtsmanship and elegant design, typical of the very best Italian charts.
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