Map of Chesapeake Bay Based on Landmark Herrman Map. Colonial Mid-Atlantic United States. Browne/Senex, A New Map of Virginia Mary-Land and the Improved Parts of Pennsylvania & New Jersey..., from New General Atlas, 1719 (dated). Black & White. This fine map of Chesapeake Bay is a derivative of the landmark map by Augustine Herrman. The map has been re-oriented with north at the top and the western region has been simplified, but the precise mapping of the bay was taken directly from the surveys of Herrman. Delaware is shown to be a part of Pennsylvania, favoring the claims of Lord Baltimore, rather than the Cape Henelopen boundary, which was finally ratified by the British courts when the dispute was settled in the 1730s. New Jersey is divided into East and West Jersey, and the Virginia-Maryland border is shown correctly along the right bank of the Potomac River. The Raritan River system derives from either the cartography of John Ried or Philip Wells. The cartouche is festooned with tobacco, a major product of the region during colonial times.

In 1673 Augustine Herrman received a royal, fourteen-year copyright on his map of Chesapeake Bay. Despite the copyright, the map was plagiarized almost immediately, first in 1676 in Speed's atlas, and many slightly modified and simplified editions followed. One of the most successful of the Herrman derivatives, in terms of longevity and beauty, was this map, first issued by Christopher Browne in about 1692 and then reissued by John Senex in 1719. Senex dedicated his edition to the Earl of Orkney, Lord George Hamilton, who was then the Governor of Virginia.

LITERATURE: Burden #694; Stephenson & McKee, p. 52, #II-17; Stevens & Tree #86c; Wooldridge #84.

Faded contemporary outline color on paper with a fleur-de-lis watermark. There are expert repairs to separations spanning most of the centerfold, scattered foxing, and some light toning that is more visible at top. A small chip in the top left blank margin has been professionally reinstated. Grade: B+

19.1 x 21.8 in