''The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles'' (often abbreviated to ''The Generall Historie'') is a book written by Captain
John Smith, first published in 1629. The book is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, histories of the territory administered by the
London Company
The London Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of London, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N.
History Origins
The territor ...
.
Background
Originally, two English joint-stock companies had been made to settle North America, then known as the
Colony of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
. In June 1606, the London Company was granted a charter for a section of the continent south of that given to the
Plymouth Company
The Plymouth Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of Plymouth, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of America between latitudes 38° and 45° N.
History
The merchants (with ...
.
Both companies established settlements in 1607 - the London Company in
Jamestown,
and the Plymouth Company in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
. Soon, the term Virginia came to refer only to that part of North America covered by the London Company's original charters. The third charter, of 1612, extended its territory far enough across the Atlantic to include the Somers Isles (
Bermuda
)
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), which the Virginia Company had been in unofficial possession of since the 1609 wreck of the
Sea Venture.
Writing
John Smith fell out of favor with the directors of the Virginia Company mostly due to his insistence of increasing food supply and reducing colonist numbers. Despite this, he wrote a series of publications after returning to England in October 1609 about the colonial effort in North America, where he marginalized the Company's involvement. ''The Generall Historie'' was based in large part on information he was given by others, as he had not personally witnessed what had happened in the years between his leaving Virginia and publishing the book. Some episodes may have been fabricated, condensed, or truncated, the most famous perhaps being whether or not he was actually "saved" from death by
Pocahontas in 1607 (a fact Smith did not write about until this publication).
Further, he had never visited Bermuda, which had been separated from Virginia to be managed by the
Somers Isles Company (formed in 1615 by the shareholders of the Virginia Company). His information on Bermuda may have come from the then Governor,
Nathaniel Butler
Nathaniel Butler (born c. 1577, living 1639, date of death unknown) was an English privateer who later served as the colonial governor of Bermuda during the early 17th century. He had built many structures still seen in Bermuda today includin ...
, who probably provided the drawing which was the basis of the engraving printed in the Historie, a map, and illustrations of important sites in that
Writing
All 17th-century American writings were essentially in the manner of British writings, and both the content and form of the literature of this first century in America were markedly English.
John Smith is credited with initiating
American literature
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
, and wrote in the tradition of geographic literature and written to explain colonizing opportunities to Englishmen.
His numerous publications also offered practical advice on seamanship and colonization, and his literary achievements were probably more important to England’s imperial aspirations than his travel ones.
Publication history
''The Generall Historie'' was first printed by I.D and I. H. for Michael Sparkes in 1624.
Other editions followed in 1625, 1626, 1627, 1629, 1631, and 1632.
References
External links
Complete PDF version of ''The Generall Historie of Virginia''American Journeys
Complete text of the ''Generall Historie''American Memory
Folger Shakespeare Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Generall Historie Of Virginia, New-England, And The Summer Isles, The
Colony of Virginia
1624 books
British books
Plymouth Colony
History of Bermuda
History of New England