• Fort Raleigh National Historic Site

    Fort Raleigh

    National Historic Site North Carolina

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The White-Debry Map of Virginia

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.

White De Bry Map - Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
click image for close up and map details

Did You Know?

English flag in the 16th century

Contrary to folklore, the potato and tobacco were never introduced as true discoveries by Sir Walter Raleigh or his explorers.  These were known to people in England by the 1580s due Spanish traders.