The Bodleian Plate (Modern Restrike)

Date1980

MediumLine engraving on modern paper

DimensionsOverall: 10 × 13 1/2in. (25.4 × 34.3cm)

Credit LineColonial Williamsburg Foundation

Object number1980-103 (R)

DescriptionUpper right corner reads: "I"
Label TextThis print is a modern restrike taken from the Bodleian Plate, an eighteenth-century copperplate featuring several Williamsburg buildings, local flora and fauna, and two indigenous persons. The top panel depicts the campus of William & Mary (from left, the Brafferton Indian School, the College Building or Wren Building, and the President's House). The center panel, from left, depicts the Capitol, the west elevation of the Wren Building, and the Governor's Palace and outbuildings. Discovered at Oxford's Bodleian Library by researcher Mary Goodwin in 1929, the plate has been called the "cornerstone of the restoration" for its significant contribution to the recreation of Colonial Williamsburg.

The plate was presumably created to illustrate a history of the Americas by prominent Virginian William Byrd II, though his book was not published in his lifetime. Many people in England at the time thought of the colonies, including Virginia, as an unrefined backcountry. These grand depictions of Williamsburg's public buildings would have sent the message that Virginia was home to sophisticated gentlemen and impressive cities, giving the colony credibility.