Quadruped named Kanguroo, found on the Coast of New Holland.

by Cook, Captain James

George Stubbs, Kangaroo antique print. Quadrupede nommé Kanguroo, trouvé sur la côte de Nouvelle Hollande. Rare copperplate engraving by François Godefroi.

A drawing from Stubbs's oil painting was engraved into a copperplate (in reverse from a mirror) for prints to be published for circulation. This engraving was published in Paris in 1774 for the French edition relating the first voyage of Captain James Cook: Relation des voyages entrepris par ordre de sa Majesté Britannique actuellement régnante pour faire des découvertes dans l’hémisphere meridional, et successivement exécutés par le commodore Byron, le capitaine Carteret, le capitaine Wallis et le capitaine Cook dans les vaisseaux le Dauphin, le Swallow and l’Endeavour.

Brisith naturalist, Joseph Banks, funded half of the joint British Navy-Royal Society voyage, and employed the finest scientists and artists to accompany him. He commissioned the great horse artist George Stubbs to paint the "Kanguroo". After the skin was received in England it was inflated for painting. As the shape of the kangaroo was unfamiliar it was rather distorted. When the oil painting of the "Kongourou" was displayed by the Royal Academy in London it was the first time any British public had seen such an animal.

This rare engraving measures 210 x 155mm (8.25 x 6 inches)