• Title : Death of Captain Cook....Pye Sch.
• Size: 9in x 7 1/2in (230mm x 180mm)
• Condition: (A+) Fine Condition
• Date : 1799
• Ref #:  01-7134-1

Description:
This original copper-plate engraved naive and early print of the Death of Captain Cook in Hawaii in 1779 was engarved by Charles Pye and published in 1799.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -
Colors used: -
General color appearance: -
Paper size: - 9in x 7 1/2in (230mm x 180mm)
Plate size: - 6 1/2in x 4 1/2in (165mm x 115mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light soiling
Plate area: - None
Verso: - Light soiling

Background: 
Captain James Cook 1728 – 1779 was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.
Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He saw action in the Seven Years War and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. This helped bring Cook to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society. This acclaim came at a crucial moment in both Cook\'s career and the direction of British overseas exploration, and led to his commission in 1766 as commander of HM Bark Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages.
In three voyages, Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and on a scale not previously achieved. As he progressed on his voyages of discovery, he surveyed and named features, and he recorded islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, and an ability to lead men in adverse conditions.
Cook was attacked and killed in 1779 during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific while attempting to kidnap Kalani ōpu u, a Hawaiian chief, in order to reclaim a cutter stolen from one of his ships. He left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge which influenced his successors well into the 20th century, and numerous memorials worldwide have been dedicated to him.

Pye, Charles Jr. 1775–1864
Pye was an English engraver from Birmingham. He was the elder son of Charles Pye Sr. an engraver in Birmingham, and the brother of landscape engraver John Pye. He was also a pupil of James Heath.
During his later years, Pye lived in Leamington. A trade card (proof before engraved letters) is in the Heal Collection (Heal,59.124) and advertises C. Pye Engraver, No.14 Charton St. Sommerstown.
Pyes engravings were published in collections including:

- Beauties of England Illustrated
- Hunters History of London
- Cadell & Davies, Britannia depicta.
- J. Scott and P. B. de la Boissière, Picturesque Views of the City of Paris and its Environs (1823)
Pye supplied engravings to designs by William Westall for the early issues of John Poole\\\'s The Regent, Or, Royal Tablet of Memory. In 1820 he published a letter, from Euston Square, on his experiments with relief etching on copper, in The London Journal of Arts and Sciences