Jefferson and Fry Map of Virgina, 1776
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A Map of the Most
Inhabited part of Virginia...
Joshua Fry (1699-1754)
& Peter Jefferson (1708-1757).
Engraved map in four sheets.
London: R. Sayer
& J. Bennett, 1775.
16 3/4 x 24 1/2 inches sheet,
41 1/2 x 57 1/2 inches framed. The Fry - Jefferson map of the broad area known as Virginia is the fundamental cartographic document of the region from the 18th century. The first map to focus on Virginia was Captain John Smith’s of 1612, but after that early and primitive attempt to delineate the area, no exhaustive study was made for over a century. This basic lack was first confronted by the team of Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas Jefferson, and Joshua Fry. The two men were commissioned by the Virginia legislature after a 1751 mandate, issued by the English Lords of Trade, required each colony to produce an adequate survey of the region. Fry’s expertise as master of mathematics at William and Mary, and Jefferson’s as a surveyor, earned them the honor of being selected to compile the Virginia map.
The result of the ambitious collaboration between the two men was the most accurate, comprehensive, and complete project in the history of Virginia mapping. The Fry - Jefferson map was the first to delineate the interior regions of Virginia beyond the Tidewater, and included all the major plantations along Virginia’s rivers by family name. It was the first printed map to depict the valleys of the Appalachian and Allegheny mountain ranges of the western interior, and to show the complete Virginia river system. The striking cartouche at the lower right is one of the earliest surviving pictorial representations of the Virginia tobacco trade, and a testament to the fact that Fry and Jefferson ensured the same quality in the map’s artwork as in its cartography. Historically, this is the most valuable and influential early map of Virginia.
Inhabited part of Virginia...
Joshua Fry (1699-1754)
& Peter Jefferson (1708-1757).
Engraved map in four sheets.
London: R. Sayer
& J. Bennett, 1775.
16 3/4 x 24 1/2 inches sheet,
41 1/2 x 57 1/2 inches framed. The Fry - Jefferson map of the broad area known as Virginia is the fundamental cartographic document of the region from the 18th century. The first map to focus on Virginia was Captain John Smith’s of 1612, but after that early and primitive attempt to delineate the area, no exhaustive study was made for over a century. This basic lack was first confronted by the team of Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas Jefferson, and Joshua Fry. The two men were commissioned by the Virginia legislature after a 1751 mandate, issued by the English Lords of Trade, required each colony to produce an adequate survey of the region. Fry’s expertise as master of mathematics at William and Mary, and Jefferson’s as a surveyor, earned them the honor of being selected to compile the Virginia map.
The result of the ambitious collaboration between the two men was the most accurate, comprehensive, and complete project in the history of Virginia mapping. The Fry - Jefferson map was the first to delineate the interior regions of Virginia beyond the Tidewater, and included all the major plantations along Virginia’s rivers by family name. It was the first printed map to depict the valleys of the Appalachian and Allegheny mountain ranges of the western interior, and to show the complete Virginia river system. The striking cartouche at the lower right is one of the earliest surviving pictorial representations of the Virginia tobacco trade, and a testament to the fact that Fry and Jefferson ensured the same quality in the map’s artwork as in its cartography. Historically, this is the most valuable and influential early map of Virginia.
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Jefferson and Fry Map of Virgina, 1776
Estimate $12,000 - $18,000
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