Beverley, Robert (bev'urlē) [key], 1673–1722, Virginia colonial historian, author of The History and Present State of Virginia (1705). A substantial planter and colonial official, he wrote his book after finding numerous errors in the manuscript of a book on Virginia written by an Englishman. Vigorous, honest, and not without humor, his history was an immediate success; reprinted a number of times, it served to attract immigrants to Virginia.
