1630 Nova Virginiae Tabula
DESCRIPTION
This map of the Chesapeake Bay region is among the most influential of its era, credited with spreading knowledge of the English settlement in Virginia throughout Europe in the 17th century. It is based on Captain John Smith’s seminal 1612 map, the first to depict the bay, its tributaries, and surrounding waterways with reliable accuracy.
Cartographic Detail, Sources, and Decorative Elements
The engraving is rich with geographic and ethnographic detail, showing rivers, uplands, and numerous Indigenous nations, most situated along waterways vital for travel, trade, and survival. Small crosses appear throughout the map, marking the limits of Smith’s personal exploration; beyond them the geography was drawn from Indigenous accounts. The key in the upper right explains the map’s settlement symbols: circles for habitations, circles with central dots for chiefs’ houses, wigwam-like forms for villages, and palisaded symbols for fortified towns.
The map is embellished with vivid imagery: in the upper left, Chief Powhatan sits enthroned among his attendants; in the upper right, the Royal arms appear above the solitary Native figure in full regalia, bow and club in hand. At the bottom center, a scale of miles bears Hondius’s imprint. Together with the legend at right, these elements reinforce both the geographic and cultural significance of this important 17th-century map.
Publication, State, and Dating the Map
Henricus Hondius produced this version after Jodocus Hondius Jr.’s plates had passed to Blaeu, necessitating a new engraving around 1630. This example carries Latin text on the verso and shows the Native warrior facing inward toward the Chesapeake, features diagnostic of the Hondius plate (Burden 228) issued from 1630 onward in Latin editions of the Atlas Novus.
CONDITION
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