1785 William Bligh TONGA \"Chart of the Friendly Islands\" James Cook 3rd Voyage
![1785 William Bligh TONGA \](img-large/g/ezQAAOSwbqpTzZGm/s-l1600/1785-William-Bligh-TONGA-Chart-of-the-Friendly-Isl.jpg "1785 William Bligh TONGA \")
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1785 William Bligh TONGA \"Chart of the Friendly Islands\" James Cook 3rd Voyage:
$175.00
Chart of the Friendly Islands
33 cm x 22.5 cm copperplate engraving, 37 cm x 25 cm sheet size, Alexander Hogg, London, 1785
We are pleased to offer this scarce original chart of the Nomuka and the Ha\'aipai island groups in what is now the Kingdom of Tonga compiled by none other than the then-sailing master of the Resolution William Bligh (1754-1817) later of Bounty fame on James Cook\'s third and final voyage and engraved for the New, Authentic, Entertaining, Instructive, Full and Complete Historical Account of Captain Cook\'s First, Second, Third and Last Voyages1 published serially between 1784 and 1786. Oriented to the east, the chart presents the courses of both the Resolution and Discovery during their transit of the islands in 1777. Bligh\'s original survey2 does not survive, but the engraving is known to follow his exact design including topographical relief shown by hachure work and his carefully recorded track of the ships. A similar chart compiled on Cook\'s earlier visit to the islands by a different officer is rather crude when compared to Bligh\'s meticulous work here. Charting these waters may have saved Bligh\'s life and those of his few loyal crew as they were set adrift here and he was able to set course for Tofua before beginning the now legendary ~ 3600 nautical mile voyage to Timor. Handsomely engraved, the chart is further enhanced by hand colour of the finest order and this historically important and quite decorative chart will make an elegant presentation if matted and framed.
Note that Bligh also charted the previous course of the Resolution and Adventure in 1773 along with his careful depth soundings and reef depictions. To get a sense of the finely engraved detail consider that the distance from the \"English Road\" coast of Eua to the \"Van Dieman Road\" coast of Tongatapu measures just 7 cm actual size:
Bligh\'s professionalism is evident in his compilation of the chart noting exact locations and ship courses and the chart is nicely accented with attractive cyan wash colour around islands:
Condition - Please note carefully:The print is in overall excellent condition as can be ascertained from photos, image area essentially pristine, no text on verso, no folds, strong impresssion with distinct platemark on fine quality laid paper. Some minor soiling to margin extremities, somewhat close trim to bottom margin and somewhat uneven and frayed trim to top margin; image of print shows it lying flat in free state with all edges shown for evaluation. Inquiries welcome and we encourage you to visit our other listings on .
NOTES:
1. The editor of the New, Authentic, Entertaining, Instructive, Full and Complete Historical Account of Captain Cook\'s First, Second, Third and Last Voyages was named as one \"George William Anderson\", almost certainly a pseudonym for the publisher Alexander Hogg. In a recent exhibition of these historically important engravings made for this publication the Lowe Art Museum in Miami noted that the pseudonym was \"a device Hogg employed in a number of his publications\" intended to convey an \"aura of authoritative knowledge\" regarding his editing of the official publications of the voyages. Hogg shrewdly elected to publish the work (which eventually included accounts of other circumnavigations) in a relatively affordable serial format from 1784-1786 to reach a broad audience, noting in his marketing copy that this was \"due to the many thousands of Persons who would wish to peruse the Discoveries... and view the astonishing fine Copper-Plates, who have hitherto been excluded from gratifying their eager curiosity. These installments would allow every Person, whatever may be his Circumstances, to read about the voyages of which such vast Sums of the Public Money have been expended.\"
2. Bligh later justifiably complained that this and other surveys which he compiled entirely on his own were mistakenly attributed to Lieutenant Henry Roberts who prepared many of Bligh\'s charts for engraving and publication but did not conduct the surveys at sea.
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1785 William Bligh TONGA \"Chart of the Friendly Islands\" James Cook 3rd Voyage:
$175.00