Fry-Jefferson Archives

Des Barres Atlantic Neptune — A detail from the Library's copy of Atlantic Neptune, by Des Barres

We have commented in these pages on the great privilege it was to exhibit some of the Library’s beautiful charts of the Chesapeake Bay at the Library of Virginia for the Vorhees Lecture of the Fry-Jefferson Map Society. The lecture took place last Saturday Mar. 31, and we worked diligently last week to select examples of the best of our maps and charts. It was hugely fun and a welcome break from the routine.

Thanks to the generosity of the Virginia Cartographic Society, we were able to take reproductions of 3 of the very rare maps collected by Bill Wooldridge, a great friend of the Library and a dedicated student and collector of maps. We selected Colom’s New Netherlands map of 1658, the Dudley Old and New Virginia map from book 6 of the Dell’ Arcano del Mare (1646), and the William Heather 1812 chart of the Chesapeake Bay. Read more

A digital version of Robert Dudley's map. Come to the event to see the original!

Lately many of my blog posts have been about maritime news, particularly the Costa Concordia disaster. While these stories are very important, I am pleased to be able to share with you readers some exciting news. The Mariners’ Museum Library has been granted the great honor of displaying some of our rare maps and charts at the upcoming Alan M. & Nathalie Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography, presented by the Fry-Jefferson Map Society.

The Fry-Jefferson Map Society is a foundation affiliated with the Library of Virginia. The Society’s mission is “to develop, enhance and promote the cartographic collections of the Library of Virginia”. The Fry-Jefferson Map Society annually presents the Alan M. & Nathalie Voorhees Lecture on the History of Cartography to help accomplish that mission. This year will feature two lectures, entitled “Chesapeake Change: four centuries of shifting venues” and “Impacts of Rapidly Rising Sea Levels on the Erosion of the islands and low-lying areas of Mid-Chesapeake Bay”, as well as cartography exhibits. Read more

TMM Library at the Vorhees Lecture

Come for the Lectures, Stay for the Maps