06/15/2026
Rare separately published example of Blaeu’s map of Virginia, and the Chesapeake region, based upon John Smith’s map of Virginia, the most important map of Virginia published in the 17th Century.
This is the second state of Hondius’ rare separately issued map, first engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1618 and purchased by Blaeu following Hondius’ death in 1629. The map depicts the discoveries in the region detailed by John Smith in his seminal map of Virginia, first issued in 1612. Because of the commercial success of Blaeu’s Atlases, it is Blaeu’s map of Virginia that influenced two generations of European map makers regarding the English mapping and discoveries in the region. It was the primary influence on other maps of the period and the standard map of the region until Augustine Hermanns’s map of 1673.