American beginnings

This illustrated collection of essays examines early Native American contact with European explorers, fishermen, and traders in "Norumbega," the sixteenth-century name of the Atlantic coast of New England near the Penobscot River in Maine. This coast was the focus of several French and English voyagers seeking a northwest passage and other avenues to riches and treasure.

A tacit division gradually emerged: the French concentrated on the region north of the Penobscot and the English on the lands to the south. The 100 illustrations in this book come largely from the Osher Map Library at the University of Southern Maine and include many rare early maps (1500-1800). Ten are reproduced in full color.