[Smith, John]:

$65,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

VIRGINIA. One of the most important cartographical works related to North America in the 17th century, Smith's "'Map of Virginia' is the first detailed and accurate description of the Chesapeake Bay region...not only the first, but a fine delineation of Maryland territory, and was the basis for all maps of the area for many years to come" (Baer). "One of the most important printed maps of America ever produced and certainly one of the greatest influence. It became the prototype for the area for half a century" - Burden. John Smith sailed for Virginia under the sponsorship of the Virginia Company of London in late 1606. The expedition, consisting of three ships and nearly 150 colonists and crew, reached the coast of Virginia in late April, 1607, and established the Jamestown settlement a few weeks later. Smith spent much of the next sixteen months exploring the region, making extensive journeys along the bays and rivers of the mid-Atlantic. "From observations on these trips, he created one of the great maps of the colonial era, so compellingly authoritative that derivatives of it stayed in print for a century, and nothing significantly better than it appeared for sixty years" - Wooldridge.The map shows the present states of Virginia and Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay region. It records the location of scores of indigenous settlements, and marks the extent of Smith's explorations by the location of crosses - the information beyond that was gathered by Smith from native sources

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