First edition, first issue title-page, which John Smith continually updated to keep it current, and to reflect the death of James I, and the accession of Charles I, whose portrait appears at the head. There is only one issue of the text, although it was printed by two printers, to each of whom Smith gave half the text in order to speed the printing process. The difficulties of achieving that created a break in pagination, and there are no pages 97-104.
‘The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles’, was John Smith’s magnum opus. It contains detailed accounts of Smith’s attempts to survey the coast of Virginia and New England; the founding of Jamestown, and of Bermuda in 1612; the arrival of the Mayflower Pilgrims in Massachusetts in 1620; Smith’s relationship with native American chieftain Powhatan, his capture by Opechancanough, on the orders of Powhatan, and his subsequent rescue by Pocahontas; an account of her marriage to John Rolfe, her visit to England in 1616-7, and her tragic death.
Financed by subscription, the ‘Generall Historie...’ “was rushed out during the crisis over the Virginia Company which led to the forfeiture of the company’s charter. Smith was confident that he knew what colonization required better than anyone else. In his view neither Virginia nor Bermuda with their staple economies and unruly populations offered viable models of colonization but developments in New England were encouraging. The first stage of colonization required soldiers and military discipline to secure the settlement, but they should give way to families and communities as soon as it was feasible. Only the emigration of a cross-section of English society would permit the development of towns and communities recognizably English in character and with a strong moral core. As for the Native Americans, though referred to by Smith as cannibals, they were not so degraded or inhuman as to be incapable of conversion” (Morgan).

The ‘Generall Historie...’ is of utmost importance because of its maps: 1. ‘Virginia Discouered and described by Captayn John Smith Grauen by William Hole’, “One of the most important printed maps of America ever produced and certainly one of the greatest influence. It became the prototype for the area for half a century until Augustine Herrman’s map of 1673. First separately issued in London, it accompanied many editions of various publications for another twenty years. It, therefore, was seen widely and inspired much interest in the fledgling Virginia colony, influencing considerably its eventual success. Consequently, the east coast of North America became dominated by the English. To this day, the map is still used by archaeologists to locate native Indian villages. It records 166 of them, and is remarkably detailed” (Burden).
2. ‘New England: The most remarqueable parts thus named. by the high and mighty Prince Charles. Prince of great Britaine Observed and described by Captayn John Smith’. Engraved by Simon de Passe, initially to accompany Smith’s ‘A description of New England’ (1616) this is “the foundation map of New England cartography, the one that gave it its name and the first devoted to the region. It covers the area from the present Penobscot Bay in Maine, to Cape Cod, Massachusetts” (Burden).
The engraved title-page includes portraits of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles, Prince of Wales; the coats of arms of the Virginia Company, the Plymouth Company, and the Somers Isles Company; and a map of the eastern coast of North America. The frontispiece portrait is of Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond, Smith’s patron, to whom the work is dedicated.

The author
John Smith (1580-1631), soldier and adventurer, had sailed to Virginia on the first fleet, “arriving there in the spring of 1607. About eighteen months later, after a lot of exploring, he was voted president of the governing council of the fledgling colony, and became de facto Governor of Virginia. “Badly injured in an explosion when his term of office was all but complete, Smith sailed for England on 4 October 1609, unaware that a major role had been reserved for him in the company’s latest instructions. His vigorous presidency, none the less, had probably ensured the colony’s long-term survival... What Smith did back in England is a matter of conjecture, but at some point his interest shifted northwards to New England, then known as Norembega. Entering the employ of a wealthy merchant, Marmaduke Rawdon, he took command of a whaling venture in March 1614. Hoping to establish a new colony, Smith explored and mapped the north-east coast of America. When he returned to England in August, he sought out Sir Ferdinando Gorges, leader of the Plymouth Company, which held rights to that part of America. Smith named the region New England and received the title of admiral of New England.... Little is known about the last fifteen years of Smith’s life except for the fact that he turned increasingly to writing, both because he needed to make a living and because he had things to say” (Morgan).