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FORD, Richard and Philip LEA (fl.1666-1700)
[Barbados] A New Map of the Island of Barbadoes wherein every Parish, Plantation, Watermill, Windmill & Cattlemill, is described with the name of the Present Possesor, and all things els Remarkable according to a Late Exact Survey thereof.
London: Philip Lea & John Seller, [1682]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline colour, in excellent condition. Sheet size: 20 x 24 3/4 inches.
An extremely rare map, the finest and most detailed early map of Barbados
This very elegant map is the largest and most detailed early map of Barbados. Tony Campbell describes it as "the first systematic map of the island". It is the product of detailed surveys conducted by a Quaker planter, Richard Ford, in the 1670s. The roughly triangular island is shown in a remarkably large scale, and its various attributes are pictorially conveyed in immense detail. Every individual plantation that covers the bountiful island is marked with its proprietor's name, and the various types of mills, including the island's celebrated windmills are marked with symbols. In homage to Barbados' agrarian bounty, the map is embellished with miniature illustrations of various plants such as the "Pawpaw Tree," "Bennawno" (banana), "Indian Corn," and the "Cabage Tree." The island's main towns, such as "The Bridge Toun." "Ostines Toun," 'Speights Toun" and "The Hale Toun" are outlined, and a series of cartographic insets details their respective prospects. Each of the island's eleven parishes, as demarcated in 1645, are labeled and a line of crosses surrounds the island's coastline, indicating the presence of reefs.
An extremely elaborate cartouche, of great artistic virtuosity adorns the lower right portion of the map. Surmounted by the allegorical figure of Britannia, accompanied by the English coat of arms and Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, the cartouche is also joined by the figure of Neptune, with a mermaid to his left side. Featured within is a "New Description of the Island of Barbados" which details aspects of the island's geography, history and economic development. At the lower right of the map is a beautiful distance scale adorned with two cherubs. The present example is the second state of three recorded states of this map, with all states being rare.
Barbados, one of the most fertile islands of the Caribbean chain, was first settled by the English in 1627, when a party led by Sir William Courteen landed on the island. Sugarcane, introduced from Guyana, flourished,and by the time Richard Ford surveyed Barbados, the former dense forest had completely given way to thriving plantations. The present map far supersedes all other early maps of the island, in both its depiction of detail and its artistic expression, a superlative that would not be challenged until the publication of William Mayo's map in 1722.
Campbell, "The Printed Maps of Barbados," Map Collectors' Circle, Vol. III, no.21, map 9; Phillips, A List of Maps of America, p.135; Stevens & Tree, "Comparative Cartography," 6(a), in Tooley, The Mapping of America
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#19740 $17,500.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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