The History and Present State of Virginia

The title page of the first edition of Robert Beverley Jr.'s The History and Present State of Virginia lists the author as "a Native and Inhabitant of the Place." A wealthy landowner and burgess from Jamestown who published his book in London in 1705, Beverley organized his text into four sections: "History," "Natural Productions," "Native Indians," and the "Present State of the Country." It is an unmatched source for the Virginia of its time—an amalgam of personal observations and stories heard, material borrowed from published and unpublished accounts, and official reports. No prior author identified himself so clearly as a Virginian.