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MAP #: 108P5

CARTOGRAPHER : PERCY, GEORGE ?

DATE: 1608

SHORT TITLE : [UNTITLED MANUSCRIPT MAP OF THE CHESAPEAKE REGION]

DATE OF PUBLICATION : S1608-10?MS
LANGUAGE(S) : EN
SIZE (HEIGHT X WIDTH) : 47.0 X 63.5 CM.
SIZE - OTHER DATA : 48 X 60 CM. OM
Md. HALL OF RECORDS # 1 : G1399-20 (REPRO)
HFC ACQ. PRIORITY : 1
HUNTINGFIELD ACQ. # 1 : HRC019-GIFT(REPRO)
REGION CATEGORY : GENERAL MAP WHERE MD/CHESAPEAKE IS ONE MAIN FOCUS (1)
SPECIAL CATEGORY(IES) : JOHN SMITH DERIVATIVE (11)
# SHEETS TO MAP : 1
MAP ORIENTATION : W IS AT THE TOP OF THE MAP.
RELIEF SHOWN ? : YES
HYDROGRAPHIC DATA : NONE
CARTOUCHE : NONE (1)
BORDER : PLAIN (2)
PRIME MERIDIAN(S) : NONE
SEE ALSO MAP #s :
BEST INFO SOURCE : THE KRAUS CATALOG MONUMENTA CARTOGRAPHICA IS THE BEST FOUND.
DESCRIPTION : THIS IS A MANUSCRIPT MAP OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND VIRGINIA DATING FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN AMERICA. IT IS DRAWN IN INK ON PAPER, MOUNTED ON CLOTH. THE CHESAPEAKE PORTION MAY HAVE BEEN BASED ON THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY JOHN SMITH, BUT WAS MADE PRIOR TO THE FIRST PRINTING OF SMITH'S MAP IN 1612. THERE ARE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES IN THE SHAPE OF THE POTOMAC, BUT ALL THE MAJOR RIVERS NOTED BY SMITH ARE SKETCHED,AND THE CHESTER RIVER, WHICH SMITH OMITTED, IS NOT INCLUDED. QUINN SUGGESTS THAT THERE MAY BE A RELATIONSHIP ALSO WITH THE ZUNIGA MANUSCRIPT OF 1608 (SEE MAP # 108Z5) IN THE AREA SOUTH OF THE JAMES RIVER. HE THEORIZES THAT THIS PART OF THE MAP MIGHT REFLECT THE FIRST 1608 EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH, BUT COULD FIND NO CONCLUSIVE PROOF.

THE RIVERS IN VIRGINIA FLOW EASTWARD FROM A LARGE RANGE OF MOUNTAINS, WHILE ALL OTHER RIVERS RUN WESTWARD FROM THESE SAME MOUNTAINS TOWARDS THE PACIFIC (UNNAMED). THIS REFLECTS THE EARLY BELIEF THAT THE PACIFIC OCEAN WAS REASONABLY CLOSE TO THE VIRGINIA-CHESAPEAKE AREA, AN ERROR FOUND ALSO IN THE FARRER MAP OF 1651 (SEE MAP # 151F5).

THE AUTHORSHIP AND DATE OF THE MAP ARE NOT CERTAIN. IT COMES FROM THE COLLECTION OF GEORGE LEGG, FIRST BARON DARTMOUTH (1648-1691). ACCORDING TO KRAUS, THE HANDWRITING OF THE FOUR LEGENDS ON THE MAP, WHILE QUITE SKETCHY APPEARS SIMILAR TO THAT OF GEORGE PERCY, BASED ON THE DISTINCTIVE GREEK-TYPE LETTER "e", THE FORM OF THE LETTER "r" AND PERCY'S TENDENCY TO WRITE MOST OF HIS LETTERS SEPARATELY IN QUASI-PRINT STYLE. PERCY WAS GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA IN 1609-1610. KRAUS ASSIGNS A DATE OF c1610 TO THE MAP. HE BELIEVES THAT IT MAY HAVE BEEN HASTILY DRAWN FOR HIS SUCCESSOR, SIR THOMAS GATES, ON GATES ARRIVAL IN 1610 TO SHOW HIM THE LOCATION OF RIVAL INDIAN TRIBES. GATES HOPED, THROUGH TRADE, ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY, TO MAINTAIN A BALANCE OF POWER AMONG THE WARRING TRIBES. ABOUT SEVENTY INDIAN VILLAGES ARE IDENTIFIED BY SEMI-CIRCLES ON PERCY'S MAP, BUT ONLY "WEROWACOMOCO" AND "MONACON ENEMYES TO POWHATAN" ARE NAMED. WEROWACOMOCO, THE PRINCIPAL TOWN OF POWHATAN, THE INDIAN CHIEFTON ON SMITH'S MAP, WAS DESTROYED BY GATES IN 1613. QUINN ASCRIBES A DATE OF LATE 1608 OR EARLY 1609 RATHER THAN 1610 TO THE MAP.

DATA IS FROM QUINN'S ENGLAND AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA AND FROM THE H.P. KRAUS MONUMENTA CARTOGRAPHICA, PP. 44-46. A REPRODUCTION IS ON P. 45.

EDITION & STATE INFO : THIS IS A MANUSCRIPT MAP.

HFC OWNERSHIP DATA : HFC HAS A FULL SIZE REPRODUCTION OF THE MAP DONE FOR US BY DECHERD TURNER, DIRECTOR OF THE HUMANITIES RESEARCH CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IN 1981, WHICH OWNS THE ORIGINAL.

BIBLIGRAPHICAL REFS. : KRAUS, H.P., MONUMENTA CARTOGRAPHICA, N.Y., 1974, PP. 44-46, WITH REPRO ON P. 45; BUSHELL, D., VIRGINIA IN EARLY RECORDS IN AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, N.S., IX, 1907, P. 35FF.; BROWN, ALEX, THE GENESIS OF THE UNITED STATES, I, PP. 151,184,456 FOR MAP REPROS OF 3 EARLY MS VIRGINIA MAPS; CUMMING, WM. P., THE SOUTHEAST IN EARLY MAPS, PP. 131-132, NOS. 28,29 FOR MAP REPROS OF 2 EARLY MS. VIRGINIA MAPS; SKELTON, R.A., THE ROYAL MAP COLLECTION OF ENGLAND, IMAGO MUNDI XIII, 1956, PP. 181-183 FOR EARLY HISTORY OF DARTMOUTH COLLECTION; QUINN, D.B., ENGLAND AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, NEW YORK, ALFRED A. KNOPF, 1974, P. 461.

April 12, 1988


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