Captain James Cook's Third Voyage 1776-79: "A Branch of the Breadfruit tree the pincipal support of the natives of the South Sea Islands/A Gorget worn by the Naval and Military Officers in the South Sea Islands"

APCOOK1
Breadfruit, Gorget, Captain James Cook, Bligh, third voyage, Webber'
original copper plate engravings by Roberts, London c.1786

Captain James Cook's Third Voyage (1776-79)

"A Branch of the Breadfruit tree the principal support of the Natives of the South Sea Islands /A Gorget worn by the Naval and Military Officers in the South Sea Islands

Original copper-plate engraving by Roberts for Reverend Thomas Bankes, "BANKES's New System of GEOGRAPHY Published by Royal Authority" after John Webber (1752-1793). Webber was th young artist who accompanied Cook on his fatal third voyage. (The Names Breadfruit and Bligh were to become historically intertwined: in 1787 Captain William Bligh sailed in the HMS Bounty to Tahiti to obtain Breadfruit trees when the fruit was needed for experiments to see if they were successful in feeding the slave population. Before reaching their next destination, the Carribean, the infamous Mutiny broke out...) Such images as these would have created quite a stirin the early 1780's as in them the British public were able to se representation of life in these mysterious Pacific Islands. They were printed by a number of publishers, primarily Alexander Hogg, and Bankses's New System of Geography
Published by C. Cook,17 Paternoster Row,London c.1787-1790
Condition = Original condition on laid paper. Uncoloured as printed. Full plate mark in excellent condion. Usual age spots. Such double plates have been cut i half in past years. This is a rare survivor.
Size of plate mark = 21cm x 32.5cm
Price AUD$175