Map / of the Maritime Parts of / Virginia / Exhibiting the Seat of War and of / Ld Dunmore's depredations / in that Colony, 1776

Item

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: This is a collection of 48 maps and related images, the gift of Henry and Kaye Spalding, Jr., Class of 1960. The maps focus on the Chespeake Bay, the body of water that enabled the settlement and development of the state of Virginia. They depict the area between the years of 1590 and 1860, and are drawn by European mapmakers and, as evidenced in later works, those residing in the United States of America.

Dates

1776

Creator

Aitken, Robert (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Copies of digital files will be provided for use upon request.

Extent

From the Collection: 90.8 Megabytes (59 total images. Resized digital scans of the Spalding Collection maps are available through the Hampden-Sydney Archives & Special Collections' Digital Repository.)

From the Collection: 48 Sheets (The original maps in the Henry and Kaye Spalding Collection are framed and displayed throughout the fourth floor of Bortz Library.)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: Romance languages

From the Collection: Germanic languages

Additional Description

Physical Description

Philadelphia; Coolie Verner has proposed that this map is most likely "the first separate map of Virginia to be drawn, printed, and published in America." Most earlier maps had been engraved and published in Europe where the best craftsman plied their trade. Aitken's map, however, was described by Verner as a crude engraving, having little significance. Aitken was born in Scotland and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1769 where he became a printer in 1774 and began publishing The Pennsylvania Magazine from January 1775 through 1776. Drawn by Pierre Eugene du Simitere, who came to the colonies from Switzerland in 1765, the map was published in The Pennsylvania Magazine I (1776), opposite page 184. The map is based on the Fry-Jefferson map of Virginia and includes the area from St. Mary's, Maryland to the area around Suffolk. Towns and residences are shown as well as some roads, and the forts in York and Gloucester. --From This New Founde Lande: The Henry & Kaye Spalding Map Collection at Hampden-Sydney College, 2008.