Cassini Sandwich Isles 1798 （HM25)

1798 CASSINI SANDWICH ISLES

1798 Cassini Sandwich Isles
The Italian painter and engraver, Giovanni Cassini, produced this splendid early view of the Hawaiian Islands as part of his epic three volume atlas. This is the only map we have seen embellished with a decorative cartouche imaginatively illustrating the death of Capt. Cook on the island of Hawaii in 1779. Capt. Cook’s daring voyages and untimely death made this one of the most famous scenes of the late 18th century. Each copy of this edition is faithful to the original in every particular. Cassini, who had never been to Hawaii, used Cook’s Chart of the Sandwich Islands as a model for his map. His representation of the Hawaiian natives is more reminiscent of the American Indians with feather headdresses and his final faux pas is to show Cook, an English naval officer in an Italian naval officer’s uniform.