SMITH, John.

First German edition of John Smith's Description of New England, (1616), with a superb map of the territory copied from Smith's original and with a German key, which is excellently preserved and rare to find still with the original printed work.

The map depicts a stretch of New England coastline, from Pembroke's Bay in the north to Cape Cod in the south, and settlements including Boston and Plymouth. There is a glossary within the printed book of place names in New England giving the 'old' names in Indian language and the updated English names, clearly intended for use alongside the map and not included in the English first edition. The map also contains a portrait of Smith aged 37, with the poem by John Davies translated into German. The wonderful plate portraying the wildlife of New England includes a porcupine, beaver, leopard, bear, and various birds including an eagle and even a gryphon.

Smith describes his voyage to New England from London in April 1614 with two ships of merchants, arriving at Monheghan Island in Maine. Their intention was to mine for gold and copper and hunt whales, or, failing that, fish and furs; it was the latter that they found in great quantities, and having explored up and down the coast, returned to England after six months’ voyage. Smith then returned with a small group of captains, named here, for a second voyage in 1615, in which he describes his interactions with Dohannida, a powerful Native American chief who had actually lived in England for some years, and who Smith expected would smooth relations with other native tribes. Finally, Smith recounts a disastrous third voyage beset by numerous pirates which never reached America. Smith's work is a geographical survey of the lands they explored, with Smith's opinions on the viability of a colony. He also describes the Native American inhabitants and their relations with one another. Smith appeals to the great wealth and benefit derived by the Spanish from their colonies, and exhorts his government to fund plantations in New England. This edition preserves Smith’s dedication to the lords of the Privy Council responsible for foreign plantations and discoveries.

The German cartographer and maker of scientific instruments Levinus Hulsius (1550-1606) began a series of descriptions of navigations and voyages, the Sammlung von sechs und zwanzig Schiffahrtenof, eventually printed in 26 separate parts in Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Oppenheim and Hanau between 1598 and 1663. Church identifies this as the first edition of the fourteenth part.