The White-De Bry Map of Virginia (1590)

In 1590 Theodor De Bry published Part I of his America, which included several of his engravings based on drawings of the New World by John White. Notable among them is a map of the east coast of North America from the lower Chesapeake Bay south past Cape Lookout. Three probable sources of this collaborative map are extant: a crude pen-and ink map, perhaps by Ralph Lane, and two of an unknown number of White's detailed watercolor sketch maps — one, on a large scale, covering much the same area as the engraving; the other, on a small scale, showing southeastern North America and part of the West Indies.


Some features unique to the White-De Bry are corrections; others are errors; still others may be based on sketch maps now lost. Following is the key to the White-De Bry map which was taken, with many liberties, from Appendix I of David B. Quinn's Roanoke Voyages (London, 1955).

MAP KEY found here:

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