Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta, primum ab Anglis inuenta, sumtibus Dn. Walter Raleigh, Equestris ordinis Viri Anno Dni. MDLXXXV regni Vero Sereniss: nostrae Reginae Elizabethae XXVII
Title
Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta, primum ab Anglis inuenta, sumtibus Dn. Walter Raleigh, Equestris ordinis Viri Anno Dni. MDLXXXV regni Vero Sereniss: nostrae Reginae Elizabethae XXVII
Part of America, now called Virginia, first discovered by the English, have been taken Dn. Walter Raleigh, Knight of the Men, of the Year 1585, most gracious of , our Queen Elizabeth 27
Description
This was the first separate map of Virginia. Drawn by John White, it appeared in Thomas Harriot’s A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia in Vol. 1 of Theodore de Bry’s Great Voyages in 1590.
As an explorer, surveyor, cartographer, painter, and colonial administrator, John White played a central role in Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempt to plant a colony along this coast. Apparently from a humble background, White belonged to the London painter-stainers guild and achieved historical significance because of his employment by Raleigh. During White’s first voyage to Virginia in 1585-86, he along with Thomas Harriot, a noted scientist, surveyed the region. White’s detailed paintings of Natives engaged in daily activities rank among the most important images of North American Indians. The sketch White produced in 1585, a copy of which is preserved in the British Museum, became the basis for this published map.
In 1587 White returned to Virginia as governor with a small group of colonists. Under orders from Raleigh, White planned to pick up the remaining Englishmen on Roanoke Island and move the entire settlement to a more favorable location on the Chesapeake Bay, but the ship captain refused to comply with White’s orders. At the urging of his settlers, White returned to England to secure needed supplies. The arrival of the Spanish Armada in 1588 delayed his return until 1590, when he found the vacant “Lost Colony.” Among those missing were his daughter and granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first English colonist born in North America. In the same year, White’s map appeared in Theodore De Bry publication of Harriot’s glowing accounts of Virginia that sought to attract new settlers to Virginia, even though White’s experience there might argue against such a migration.
As an explorer, surveyor, cartographer, painter, and colonial administrator, John White played a central role in Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempt to plant a colony along this coast. Apparently from a humble background, White belonged to the London painter-stainers guild and achieved historical significance because of his employment by Raleigh. During White’s first voyage to Virginia in 1585-86, he along with Thomas Harriot, a noted scientist, surveyed the region. White’s detailed paintings of Natives engaged in daily activities rank among the most important images of North American Indians. The sketch White produced in 1585, a copy of which is preserved in the British Museum, became the basis for this published map.
In 1587 White returned to Virginia as governor with a small group of colonists. Under orders from Raleigh, White planned to pick up the remaining Englishmen on Roanoke Island and move the entire settlement to a more favorable location on the Chesapeake Bay, but the ship captain refused to comply with White’s orders. At the urging of his settlers, White returned to England to secure needed supplies. The arrival of the Spanish Armada in 1588 delayed his return until 1590, when he found the vacant “Lost Colony.” Among those missing were his daughter and granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first English colonist born in North America. In the same year, White’s map appeared in Theodore De Bry publication of Harriot’s glowing accounts of Virginia that sought to attract new settlers to Virginia, even though White’s experience there might argue against such a migration.
Date
1585
Creator
John White
Language
Latin
Files
Collection
Citation
John White, “Americae pars, Nunc Virginia dicta, primum ab Anglis inuenta, sumtibus Dn. Walter Raleigh, Equestris ordinis Viri Anno Dni. MDLXXXV regni Vero Sereniss: nostrae Reginae Elizabethae XXVII,” Columbus State University Archives and Special Collections , accessed April 16, 2024, http://digitalarchives.columbusstate.edu/items/show/8.