Antique Print with Coastal Views of Islands Near The American Coast by Cook

Coastal profiles of the northwest coast of America, an original copper engraving lettered "Gezigten der Landen van de West-Kust van Amerika, ten westen van Cook's Rivier", from the Dutch edition of James Cook's voyages, Reizen rondom de Waereld door James Cook. It was translated by J.D. Pasteur and published by Honkoop, Allart and Van Cleef, and the plate number is engraved at the upper right.

The sheet is filled with six or seven narrow strips, each showing a different stretch of coast as seen from the sea: long ridges of mountains, low islands, and rocky peaks, with small notes in Dutch printed beneath each giving its bearing and distance. The strips include a large rugged profile of "Cook's River" mountains at the top, and a separate sharp-cut peak at the bottom right.

Such views were an important part of an exploring voyage, because they allowed later captains to recognize headlands and islands on approach. They record the part of the Alaskan coast that Cook's ships surveyed in 1778, and they show the character of the mountainous, island-strewn shore west of Cook Inlet.