Antique Map of the West Coast of America with Island Views, ca.1784

€ 450

Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)

Date: 1784
Sheet size: 30 × 49 cm (11.8 × 19.3 in)
Condition: Good
Reference: BGJC-208

What the condition grades mean

Excellent: Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good: Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good: Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair: Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.

Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.

About this sheet

Views on the West Coast of America, an original copper engraving of coastal profiles from an edition of the accounts of Captain James Cook's voyages, dated c.1784. The sheet is printed in black and lettered "Views on the West Coast of America" at the top.

Eight views are arranged on the sheet, each with its own caption naming the headland and the bearing from which it was seen. The largest, at the lower left, shows Kayes Island rising steeply as a pointed rock from the sea, and the one at the lower right shows the high, snow-covered land of Prince William's Sound behind a glacier shore. Others show the entrance of Nootka Sound, Mount Edgecumbe, the long low outline of Kayes Island from the west, and distant coastal ranges. The profiles were drawn so that later navigators could recognize the shore from sea, and each carries notes of the distance at which it was taken.

The plates belong to the account of Cook's third voyage, which explored the North Pacific coast from Nootka Sound to the Bering Strait in 1778.