Title: Virginia.

Scale: Bar scale indicates 15 Meylen.

Publisher: [Frankfort, Matheus Merian]. 

Dimensions: Image 28.3 x 35.5 cm. Engraving.

In: Theodore de Bry, Grands Voyages, Volume XIII, Frankfort, 1627/8;1634.

Virginia, 1627-8 or 1634

This map derives from the sixth state of the John Smith map (no. 2) and follows its prototype much closer than the other derivative included, the map by Willem Blaeu (no. 4). The lettering is generally the same as is the placement of mountains and trees. The Potomac River shows the 'Y' shape, characteristic for the Smith map and its derivatives. The delineation of the Atlantic coast north of the Maltese cross is based on speculation. By suggesting a coastline expanding sharply to the northeast Smith introduced the incorrect idea of the broadly-shaped Delmarva peninsula that appears time and again on the early 17th-century maps of the east coast of America.

The map is somewhat simpler than its famous prototype. In its ornaments it is typical for the maps of this period. One may note the wind rose. In the manner of almost all the "early" maps included in this catalogue (i.e., those of the 16th and 17th centuries), this map is oriented towards the west. The wind rose indicates north with a fleur-de-lis. The origin of this use of a fleur-de-lis is not certain. It may have arisen by combining the spearhead symbol, used on some of the earliest compass cards, with the letter "T", which stands for Tramontana, the Italian name for a northerly wind. The east on a wind rose is often indicated by a cross - as it is on this map.

This Virginia map appeared in the German and Latin versions of Volume XIII of De Bry's Grands Voyages.

References
C. Verner, 1968.

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