Magicien de la Virginie. Pretre de la Virginie vu du cote droit / Pretre de la Virginie vu du cote gauche.

Title

Magicien de la Virginie. Pretre de la Virginie vu du cote droit / Pretre de la Virginie vu du cote gauche.

Description

3 views on one sheet, shows the natives of Virginia, after heodor de Bry, from the book: Naaukeurige beschryving der uitwendige godtsdienst-plichten, kerk-zeden en gewoontens van alle volkeren der waereldt. Deel 3, issued 1728.

dated 1721

Artist

Picart (1673-1733)

Bernard Picart (also Pikahr) (1673-1733) was a French engraver and book illustrator. In 696 he went to the Academy in Antwerp and in 1698 to Amsterdam, where he worked as a book illustrator. His most distinguished works include the portrait of his father, Prince Eugene, the child murder and the engravings for the Traité des cérémonies religieuses de toutes les nations. His engravings of the gems in the collection of Baron von Stosch, which, unlike other works of the time, were very faithful to the original, are also known.

Historical Description

Virginia received its name in honor of Queen Elizabeth I of England from Walter Raleigh during his expedition in 1584, when he founded the first settlement on Roanoke Island.Of the native peoples of Virginia, the best known are the Powhatan belonging to the Virginia Algonkin who lived near the coast. Other groups included Nottaway and Meherrin, members of the Iroquois family, southwest of them, Monacan and Saponi, members of the Sioux family, who lived in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, and Cherokee in the far west of the state. The first attempts at settlement by the English took place in Virginia. However, these first attempts were not made by the English government, but by a company called the Virginia Company, which founded the Jamestown settlement in 1607. At that time the English government lacked the money to finance such expensive and unsafe expeditions. Initially, the attempts to colonize were only moderately successful. During the English Powhatan Wars, the colony came under severe pressure. The year 1612 was an economically very important year. John Rolfe planted the first tobacco plant, which he had probably brought from Trinidad, in Virginia. Due to the hot and humid climate and the help of the indigenous population, the tobacco plants thrive splendidly. Rolfe, who had married an indigenous woman named Pocahontas in 1614, made his way to England in 1616 with the first batch of tobacco, where he was a resounding success. In 1617 he returned to Virginia to continue growing tobacco, but without Pocahontas, who had died in England. Rolfe had triggered the first boom in the new English world. As the home of many founding fathers, particularly Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, George Mason and George Washington, Virginia played a prominent role in the American independence movement.