Biographical/historical information

Thomas Harriot was born about 1560 in Oxfordshire, England. In 1590, he graduated from Oxford University with a B.A. In 1583, he joined Sir Walter Raleigh's household and served as an accountant, ship designer, and navigational instructor to Raleigh's seamen. In 1585, Harriot served as a cartographer, historian, and surveyor for Raleigh's second expedition to Virginia. The group arrived in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound and settled on Roanoke Island on June 26, 1585. He returned to England afterwards. He died on July 1621 in London and was buried in St. Christopher le Stocks, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. In 2003, East Carolina University named the college Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences after Harriot.

Scope and arrangement

The collection consists of a reproduction (2004) of a copy of a portrait of Thomas Harriot who lived between 1560 and 1621. This portrait is a giclee reproduction of a copy in Bate Hall, Room #1002. The original painting is located at Trinity College, Oxford, England. The portrait shows Harriot holding a "pomander"—an orange embedded with cloves—commonly used by the wealth to counter the unpleasant odors prevalent at the time.

Administrative information

Custodial History

August 16, 2004, 2 items, 0.004 cubic feet; Reproduction (2004) of a copy of a portrait of Thomas Harriot (1560-1621) the noted Elizabethan mathematician, astronomer, navigator, and explorer, by an anonymous artist and reference reproduction of portrait. Donor: Ms. Harvey Wooten

Source of acquisition

Gift of Ms. Harvey Wooten

Processing information

Encoded by Lindsay Flood, April 4, 2008

Processed by Aleck Tan, February 2020

Copyright notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Metadata Rights Declaration

Key terms

Personal Names

Harriot, Thomas, 1560-1621--Portraits

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