Parts of the globe, Captain Cook's voyages, 18th century.

Four Italian engravings, late 18th century.
Voyages made by Captain James Cook.
Design by Giovanni Maria Cassini in Rome, 1790.
Presents folds, wear, damage, moisture stains.
Measurements: 60 x 40 cm; 67 x 48 cm (frame).

Parts of the globe representing the three voyages made by Captain James Cook in a design created by Giovanni Maria Cassini in 1790.

James Cook (Marton, England, 1728- Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii,1779) was a British navigator, explorer, cartographer and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook produced detailed maps of the island of Newfoundland before making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he established the first recorded contact of Europeans with the east coast of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, as well as the first circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712) was an Italian astronomer, geographer and engineer naturalized French. From 1669 he lived in France and in 1673 became a French citizen, so he is also known by the French version of his name, Jean-Dominique Cassini. Louis XIV of France appointed him in 1671 director of the Paris Observatory and a member of the Academy of Sciences. Cassini would remain director for the rest of his life. After forty years of observing the sky, he became completely blind and died in 1712. Cassini was a contemporary of Isaac Newton who made numerous observational contributions to the astronomy of the solar system, which would end up being fundamental in underpinning the theory of gravitation.