A French edition of an important map of Virginia

Robert de Vaugondy's reduction of the important survey of the British colony. In 1750 the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantatations ordered that each of the 13 Colonies should produce an accurate survey of their lands. As Fry & Jefferson were already surveying the border between Virginia and North Carolina they were chosen for this assignment. For the first time the interior regions beyond the tidewater were mapped, as was the complete Virginia river system. Completed in 1751 but not published until 1754, the original map is now extremely rare, although there is a second edition of 1755, with many amendments. Vaugondy's map was first published earlier in that year and so is the earliest version of the Fry & Jefferson survey available to the collector. This example comes from the 5th known state, with Vaugondy's title of 'Geographe Ordinaire du Roi' reduced to 'Geographe' because of the French Revolution.