Cook, James, 1728-1779 Entrance of Endeavour River, in New South Wales; Botany Bay, in New South Wales, London : Strahan & Cadell, 1773 Call number: MAPS 805 00000 r1770
Munster, Sebastian, 1489-1552 La table de la region orientale, comprenant les dernieres terres & royaumes d'Asie, Basel : s.n., 1552-1568 Call number: MAPS 400 00000 r 1552
Chart of the great Pacific Ocean or South Sea : to illustrate the voyage of discovery,made by the Boussole and Astrolabe, in the years 1785, 86, 87 & 88, London : G.G.& J. Robinson, 1798 Call number: MAPS 910 00000 r 1798
Hondius, Jodocus, 1563-1612 Typus orbis terrarum, : Iudocus Hondius, <1600?>Call number: MAPS 100 00000 r 1600
Bowen, Emanuel, fl. 1714-1767 A new and accurate map of the world : drawn from thebest authorities and regulated by astronomical observations : describing the course ofeach of the following circum - navigators vizt : Ferdinand Magellan, SR. Francis Drakeand Commodore Anson, Call number: MAPS 100 00000 r 17--
Kitchin, Thomas, 1718-1784 Derbyshire : drawn from the best authorities and regulatedby astron. observations, : For the London Magazine, <1752> Call number: MAPS 21400500 r 1752
Mappe monde : qui comprend les nouvelles decouvertes faites jusqu’ace jour, Paris : Par et chez le Sr. le Rouge, 1748 Call number: MAPS 100 00000 r 1748
The Historic Map Collection is one of the State Library of Queensland's many treasures. It comprises approximately 300 original maps, primarily of Australia and the Australasian region, dating from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. A small number of the maps show regions in other parts of the world and many relate to the European discovery and exploration of Queensland.
La Perouse's Chart of the great Pacific Ocean or South Sea
The map shows the final route of La Perouse's 1785-8 expedition. La Perouse was commissioned by the French to explore the Pacific. He left Brest on 1st August 1785 in command of the two ships La Boussole and L'Astrolabe. After sailing via Brazil, Cape Horn, Chile, the Sandwich Isles and Alaska he proceeded to sail through the Pacific Islands to Norfolk Island and then on to Botany Bay. La Perouse was sighted off the coast of Botany Bay on 24th January 1788. After leaving on the 10th March, he disappeared and was never heard from again.
James Cook - Entrance of Endeavour River
The name James Cook is well respected in the history of world exploration. His three voyages of discovery in the Pacific region during the late 1700s completed much of the world map.
Cook's discovery and exploration of Australia's east coast is well-known. When he returned from his first voyage of exploration in 1769-70, the maps he had created were soon engraved and published in accounts of his explorations. The map of the entrance of the Endeavour River in north Queensland is one such map.
Sebastian Munster: La table de la region orientale, comprenant les dernieres terres & royaumes d'Asie
The map shown is the oldest sheet map held in the State Library of Queensland. It is a plate from a French edition of Sebastian Munster's Cosmographia Universalis, published between 1552-1568, and depicts most of Asia and the Indian Ocean. Zanzibar is shown east of madgascar instead of west while the vast subcontinent of India is shown as smaller than the southeast Asian peninsula. The map also shows some of the Australasian region with Australia itself missing, replaced by a two-tailed mermaid swimming in the warm South Seas.
Chart of the Great Pacific Ocean or South Sea
La Perouse was in command of the two ships La Boussole and L'Astrolabe. His expedition was sighted off the coast of Botany Bay on 24 January 1788, and landed two days later.This was shortly after the First Fleet's arrival in 1788 (and some seven years prior to Flinders' first arrival in Sydney). After spending six weeks in the Bay the expedition sailed north and disappeared. Discoveries in the 1820s confirmed that La Perouse had been shipwrecked on the island of Vanikoro.
Typus Orbis Terrarum
The 17th century was a period of Dutch supremacy in western European map making. Some of the greatest names in cartography date to this period, including the famous dynasty of Dutch cartographers, the Hondius family.
The world map shown dates from about 1600, and may come from one of Jodocus Hondius's pocket-sized atlases of the world. It reflects the growing European knowledge of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, and the lack of knowledge of the Australasian and south Polar Regions. These are shown as one large 'super' continent, reflecting a commonly held belief that there must be a large southern land mass to balance the known ones in the north. The name Hondius gives it, Terra Australis Incognita, means 'Unknown South Land'.
Emanuel Bowen: A new and accurate map of the world
Emanuel Bowen was an English printer, engraver and seller of maps, who was appointed mapmaker to kings such as George II of England and Louis XV of France. His beautiful maps were some of the best of the 18th century, and his "large English Atlas" produced with Thomas Kitchin was completed in 1760.
Derbyshire
Thomas Kitchin or Kitchen was a prolific engraver and publisher. He was based in London from the late 1730s to mid-1770s and was appointed Hydrographer to the King. He is perhaps best known for engraving a 1755 map of the British and French dominions in North America by John Mitchell (1755). This map was subsequently used at the Peace Council at the end of the American revolutionary war. In his later years he worked with his son. He died in 1784.
Mappe Monde 1748
George Louis Le Rouge was a prominent publisher in Paris from 1741 to 1789. The map shows the world in two hemispheres, with four cartouches that represent the crown, religion, conquest and trade. Geographical features include a vast Terra Incognita in North America, a misshapen Japan and New Guinea appended to Australia. Tasmania is depicted as a peninsula.
How do I access items in this collection?
Access at the State Library of Queensland
- Find items in the collection via our One Search catalogue.
- Browse Levels 2, 3 and 4 or request items from on-site ‘Closed Access’ storage with your e-services card. If you order Closed Access items via the One Search catalogue 24 hours ahead of your visit, items should be waiting for you when you arrive. You can order up to 3 days in advance.
- Use our e-collections computers on level 2 to search the library’s catalogue; to search our databases for electronic journal, magazine and newspaper articles and to view images and manuscripts from our collection. These e-collections computers do not need to be booked and have no time limits on their use.
- You can also access our electronic resources via the State Library’s free wireless service if you have a laptop. Check our Info Guide on how to access wireless for details.
Access off-site
If you are at home, you can access selected offsite databases to search for electronic journal, magazine and newspaper articles. You will be prompted to login with your e-services card or QPL account.
Some State Library items are available for loan to other libraries. Contact your local library for information about interlibrary loan and copy services.
Related links
James Cook
Sebastian Munster
Emanuel Bowen
Derbyshire
Last updated: 2nd November 2009
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