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Secondary sourcePainting

Portraits of James Cook and Josef Natterer

An album sheet of small engraved portraits including one labeled Captain Cook, held by the Albertina Museum.

This sheet includes a portrait labeled Captain Cook among a collection of other figures' portraits.

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An open album page with several small engraved portraits: at top a small oval portrait labeled Captain Cook; below it an oval portrait of a man labeled J. Mosserer; at bottom two oval portraits of a man in a cap, one labeled Josef Gatterer.
Portraits of James Cook and Josef Natterer, artist and date unknown. Albertina Museum, Austria.

About this source

What it is

This is an album page with several small engraved oval portraits. At the top is a portrait labeled Captain Cook; below are other portraits, including men labeled J. Mosserer and Josef Gatterer. It is held by the Albertina Museum in Austria and was made after Cook's lifetime.

Why it matters

This sheet shows how portraits of famous or notable people, including Cook, were collected and grouped together in albums, likely for study or reference rather than as original lifetime images. It reflects how Cook's image continued to circulate alongside other figures long after his death.

Look closer

  • Why might portraits of different, unrelated people be placed on the same page?
  • What does the small size and repeated format of these portraits suggest about how they were used?
  • Since this was made after Cook's death, what can and cannot this image tell us about his real appearance?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of James Cook on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Oil painting of a seated man in a navy blue captain's uniform with gold braid and gold buttons over a white waistcoat. He has grey hair, holds a chart on his lap, and a tricorn hat rests on a table beside him, with sea visible through a window at left.Painting

Primary source

Captain James Cook, 1728-79

Nathaniel Dance-Holland · c. 1775-1776

Oval engraved portrait of Captain James Cook in a naval-style uniform with a high collar and cravat, hair curled at the sides, set within a decorative oval frame. Caption below reads 'Captain James Cook, F.R.S.' with publication credits along the bottom margin.Painting

Secondary source

James Cook, line engraving by Basire after Hodges

William Hodges · 1777

Engraved plate from Philosophical Transactions Vol. LXI, Tab. XIV, p. 410, titled 'Appearances of Venus by Capt. Cook' (top) and 'Appearances of Venus by Mr. Charles Green' (bottom). Each panel shows a series of numbered figures of Venus as a black disc crossing the Sun's curved edge, with arcs representing the Sun's limb at successive moments of the 1769 transit.Document

Primary source

Sketchings of the 1769 Venus Transit

James Cook and Charles Green · 1769

Engraved portrait of a man with white powdered hair, wearing a dark coat over a striped waistcoat and cravat, against a dark background. Below the portrait is a small scene of men in conflict on a shore, with figures wielding weapons. Inscriptions read N. Dance. del. and Rivers. sculp.Painting

Primary source

James Cook, engraving by Rivers after Dance-Holland

Nathaniel Dance-Holland · 1776

Engraved sea chart titled 'Chart of New Zealand, explored in 1769 and 1770' by Lieut. J. Cook, Commander of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour. Shows North and South Islands with coastal names, soundings, compass roses, and a rhumb-line grid. Title and an explanation box appear at top.Document

Primary source

Chart of New Zealand, explored in 1769 and 1770

James Cook · 1770

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