Augustine Herrman’s Map of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia (1670)
Background Information
Augustine Herrman was born in the city of Prague in the eastern European country
of Bohemia (now called the Czech Republic) about 1605. He moved from his birth
country to the Netherlands and around 1629 sailed to the Dutch colony of New
Amsterdam located on the site of present-day New York City. He was influential in
the early settlement of Manhattan under the Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant.
In 1659 Herrman traveled to Maryland for the first time at the request of
Governor Stuyvesant to assess the situation on the Eastern Shore which was being
claimed by Englishmen, Dutchmen and Native Americans. He admired the natural
beauty of Maryland and traveled south to Virginia before returning to New
Amsterdam. In 1660 Herrman proposed to Lord Baltimore to draw an accurate map
of the colony in exchange for ownership of land on the Eastern Shore (now in Cecil
County). He was awarded 5,000 acres of land, become a respected plantation
owner and held numerous county offices. It took him ten years to chart the colony
and draw what was then the most accurate map of the Chesapeake Bay coastline.
He presented the map to Cecil Calvert (Lord Baltimore) in 1670. Engravings of his
map were published in London in 1673. He died a wealthy man in 1686, leaving his
son 25,000 acres of land. Herrman was a well-educated surveyor and mapmaker.
He was fluent in several languages.
Notes about Augustine Herrman’s Map of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware (1670)
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Augustine Herrman was hired by the Calverts to map their territory and
thus establish their sovereignty and power.
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He charted the area from 1660 to 1670.
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Herrman placed descriptive text on his map to identify the specific
geography that lay in the surrounding areas.
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His map accurately depicted the coastline of the Chesapeake Bay.
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His map was presented to Lord Baltimore in 1670 and published in London in
1673.
http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/html/mpt.html
http://mdroots.thinkport.org/library/augustineherrmann.asp