Theodore de Bry after original by John White. Americae pars, nunc Virginia dicta primum ab Anglis inventa Sumtibus Dn. Walteri Raleigh Equesstris ordinis . . . MDLXXXV . . (That part of America, now called Virginia . . .) (Frankfurt: 1590). Fine impression of the earliest printed version of John White’s manuscript map of Virginia, engraved by de Bry for his Anglorum in Virginiam aduentus. Copper engraving. 11 ¾ x 16 ¼ in. to neatline; 14 ¼ x 18 ¼ in., sheet size with full margins. Slight darkening in margin along right edge and lower right corner; a few small spots in margin at lower left.
$15,000.00
“Theodore de Bry’s map of Virginia, after John White, is one of the most significant cartographical milestones in colonial North American history. It was the most accurate map drawn in the sixteenth century of any part of that continent. It became the prototype of the area long after James Moxon’s map of 1671. The region of Chesapeake Bay was, however, improved by the surveying of John Smiths around 1607. This is the first map to focus on Virginia (now largely North Carolina), and records the first English attempts at colonization in the New World.” – Phillip Burden
This 1590 engraved map by Theodore de Bry includes the locations of Indian settlements in the area surrounding Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, as well as Indian figures who can be seen on shore. This engraving was based on earlier watercolor drawings and maps created by English artist John White, who, in 1585, accompanied a failed colonizing expedition to Roanoke. Though the original John White maps were oriented on a north/south axis, de Bry reoriented this version, as indicated by the compass rose, so that west is at top. Many early maps were oriented in that direction as it showed how the area looked when approached by ship from western Europe. There are three states of the map, this is the second one with a ‘C’ superimposed on the first letter of the village called Ehesepiooc.
The map depicts the area from Chesapeake Bay to Cape Lookout in present day, North Carolina. English ships are shown at sea with Indian canoes traversing the inland waters. The inclusion of sea life and Indians, in addition to standard geographical features, is common to both the White and de Bry maps, and comes out of the medieval tradition in which maps were a kind of visual record that recorded the inhabitants as well as the flora and fauna of a region.
The new geographical information imparted by the White – de Bry engraving swept through Europe and was incorporated into maps by other publishers for at least eighty years. Roanoke Island, neighboring Indian villages, and other features are identified. In addition, the Chesapeake
Bay (“Chesepiooc Sinus”) is named for the first time on a published map. (Stephenson & McKee).
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