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Delaware was explored and/or settled by Holland, Sweden, and Finland between 1609 and 1664 before it came under British suzerainty. The influx of British colonists from the neighboring colonies of the Mid-Atlantic following the Dutch ouster combined to give it one of the most varied populations of colonial North America on the eve of the 18th century. This diversity is reflected in the book at hand, commonly referred to as the Duke of York Record, a collection of hundreds of the earliest official land records for Delaware in existence. The title of the work--but not the explanatory subtitle--is something of a misnomer, however, for the letters patent, permits, confirmations, surveys, and drawings herein actually go back to 1646, when Holland still controlled Delaware.

Transcribed and copied from an original document found in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for Kent County, Delaware, the Duke of York Record is guaranteed to intrigue anyone having a genealogical or historical interest in 17th-century Delaware, particularly if the researcher is on the lookout for one of the hundreds of names found in the index to the volume.