From: Admiranda Narratio fida tame, de Commodis et Incolarvm Ritibus Virginae

Virginia by de Bry, modeled after work from John White, is a very important milestone in cartography and North American colonial history. It has the reputation of being the most accurately drawn map in the sixteenth century of any location in the New World. Some improved details of the Chesapeake area were contributed by surveying done by the famous explorer John Smith.


There are several important features which enhance the desirability of this piece. It is the first map to print the term Chesapeake (Chesepioc Sinus) and the second to include Roanoke (Roanoac). De Bry's Virginia come in one of three variations. The one seen here shows the town of Ehesepioc has the E erased, being replaced with a C, changing it to Chesepioc. A slight remnant of the E still remains.

This map is historically significant in that it is the first to concentrate on Virginia (mostly modern North Carolina now) and shows the first attempt by the English to colonize America; a settlement organized by Sir Walter Raleigh, that would later be known as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke," after a party lead by John White returned to the area only to find it deserted.

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