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by Susan M. Kingsbury (Editor)
While the Court Book of the Virginia Company, published as Volumes 1 and 2 of this series, presents minutes of the meetings of the corporation, the succeeding volumes contain materials that vivify its decisions and decrees, explain the difficulties met and overcome by that redoubtable group of adventures, reveal the petty jealousies of the administrators, and especially record the controversy between the company and the Crown that resulted in the dissolution of the corporation and the creation of the first crown colony of Great Britain. Included in this volume are manuscripts from two collections that are unique. The 'Smyth of Nibley' papers give the history of a single settlement, called Smyth's (or Smith's) Hundred, that is typical of the various hundreds of the colony. They extend from February 3, 1618/19, to August 1, 1622, inclusive. The 'Ferrar Papers, ' on the other hand, are a veritable gold mine; their unique value is discussed in the Introduction in Volume 1. They supply a vast amount of information through the correspondence between the colony and individual planters of the colony and Sir Edwin Sandys, Nicholas Ferrar, and John Ferrar, and also between Sir Edwin Sandys and the other officials of the company. All documents here published are discussed at length in the Introduction to Volumes 1 and 2 of this series. Fifty-seven documents dating earlier than April 28, 1619, when the records in Volume 1 begin, are printed in this volume. Source material for the history of the company through the year 1622 is presented in this volume. March 22, 1622, saw the frightful massacre of colonists by the Indians. The story of that tragedy, the efforts for recovery, and the beginning of the reestablished colony conclude this volume.
