FIRST FRENCH EDITION OF THE FAMOUS FRY/JEFFERSON MAP

AUTHOR:

VAUGONDY, ROBERT - FRY / JEFFERSON

TITLE:

Carte de la Virginie et du Maryland... 1755

CONDITION:

19” x 25 1/4”. First edition. Original outline color. One small spot lower right. Very good condition.

DATE:

1755

DESCRIPTION:

First edition of the reduced French version of the famous Fry-Jefferson map, which is considered the most important 18th century map of Virginia. French mapmaker Robert Vaugondy was the first to reduce the Fry-Jefferson from its original large format (almost three by four feet), doing so before the second edition of the original map had a chance to be issued. The first English edition (1751) of the Fry-Jefferson is almost unobtainable, making this first French edition the earliest available to the collector. The original Fry-Jefferson was the first map to delineate the interior regions of Virginia beyond the tidewater. It was also the first printed map to show the parallel ridges and valleys of the Appalachian Mountain range in the correct direction, and to show the complete Virginia river system. The land was personally surveyed by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson (father of Thomas Jefferson).

REFERENCES:

cf: Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps, #281.

Inventory No. 7185