Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia 1755 — Antique Map Print

The story of this map

Joshua Fry, a professor of mathematics at the College of William & Mary, and Peter Jefferson, a surveyor and the father of Thomas Jefferson, were commissioned in 1750 to map the settled part of Virginia. Their map was engraved and published in London by Thomas Jefferys, and this is the 1755 printing, which adds a table of distances dated January 1 of that year.

It is one of the most admired maps of colonial America, and the reason is on the lower right: a cartouche showing a tobacco wharf, with hogsheads being rolled, ships waiting and planters at ease, a whole economy in one small picture. Beyond it the map is a lesson in the tidewater: the Chesapeake Bay with its great rivers running inland, the counties washed in hand colour, the Blue Ridge drawn as a long shaded ridge and the Shenandoah Valley opening behind it.

It is a natural piece for a Virginia or Maryland home, a Charlottesville study, a law office in Richmond, or anyone with roots in the Old Dominion. It belongs to our Antique Maps of US States collection and sits well beside the Mitchell map of 1755 and the Scull map of Pennsylvania.

Printed to order on archival matte paper, or on canvas, and framed in the country of delivery.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia, 1755: archive scan compared with the restored print

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Restoration plan: crop scan margins, balance colour cast and levels while keeping the paper tone, remove library stamps and scanner artefacts if present, gentle sharpening. No repainting of original content.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.

Questions

Is this an original antique map?

No. It is a new archival print of a restored high-resolution scan of the 1755 map held by the Library of Congress. We never sell originals.

What is actually printed on this map?

Virginia and all of Maryland with parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina, with the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers, the Blue Ridge and the valley beyond, county names in hand colour, a table of distances dated January 1, 1755, and the celebrated cartouche of a tobacco wharf.

How big is the map on the sheet?

The original is about 77 x 124 cm (30 x 49 in), landscape. Our prints run from 12 x 18 in up to 24 x 36 in; the wide format suits a mantel or sofa wall.

Does it come framed?

Choose it. Every map comes as an archival matte paper print, a stretched canvas, or framed in black, white or natural oak. Framed prints are made and framed in the country of delivery, ready to hang.

Colours vary between screens and paper. The tone you see here is a close match to the archival matte print; framed prints have no glass glare in these previews.

Pairs well with

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print

Mitchell Map of North America, 1755

John Mitchell · Library of Congress

$129 24×18 in framed · paper from $35

Scull Map of Pennsylvania, 1770

William Scull · Library of Congress

$129 24×18 in framed · paper from $35

The discount is applied automatically at checkout when two or more framed prints are in the cart.

Size	Metric	Best for
16×12 in	41×30 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
18×12 in	46×30 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings
24×16 in	61×41 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
24×18 in	61×46 cm	Above a desk or console, hallway, bedroom
30×20 in	76×51 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
32×24 in	81×61 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
36×24 in	91×61 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
40×30 in	102×76 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office
48×32 in	122×81 cm	Over a sofa or bed, statement wall, office

Fry-Jefferson Map of Virginia, 1755

Before and after

Restoration notes

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print