Note Type
1992 Inventory NotesNote
Hand-painted reproduction of the original map of Bermuda charted by Admiral Sir George Somers after he sailed around the island in 1609. Shows legend in top left, child with trident astride a turtle in bottom left, Somers Crest in bottom centre and more legend in bottom right. The item displayed is a copy of the ancient manuscript map now at the Bermuda Archives, in all probability the very one made by the Admiral in 16098-1610 when a castaway in Bermuda off the "Sea Venture" wreck. Sir George Somers' map was sent to England in July 1610 by William Strachey from Jamestown, with a long letter (see the book "Memorials of the Bermudas" by Terry Tucker) describing the wreck of the "Sea Venture". This ancient map turned up in 1948 among records collected long ago by the First Earl of Dartmouth and were sold to the Seventh Earl of Dartmouth (the Bermuda Historical Quarterly for 1948 gives an account of how this map re-emerged and how it was acquired by Bermuda). 9 x 12 in brown fibre matt, in 13.25 x 16.25 cedar glassed frame. On display in Somers Room.