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Source Description
Although undated, this earliest surviving plan of Boston Harbor dates from the period of Sir Edmund Andros' term as governor of New England from 1685-1689. It is most likely one of several manuscript maps of New England sent by Andros back to the Board of Trade in London. Andros was known to have received orders to secure a map of Boston Harbor as early as April 1688. The chart was prepared by Phillip Wells, one of the most highly skilled of early American cartographers, based on information provided by several ship captains. Few other important 17th-century manuscript maps of the New England colonies have survived. It is also of interest that the earliest printed chart of Boston Harbor, which was published as part of "The English Pilot: The Fourth Book" (1689), shows many similarities to this map.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
x633f945h
label
This harbour of Boston
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
x633f945h
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
This harbour of Boston
description
Although undated, this earliest surviving plan of Boston Harbor dates from the period of Sir Edmund Andros' term as governor of New England from 1685-1689. It is most likely one of several manuscript maps of New England sent by Andros back to the Board of Trade in London. Andros was known to have received orders to secure a map of Boston Harbor as early as April 1688. The chart was prepared by Phillip Wells, one of the most highly skilled of early American cartographers, based on information provided by several ship captains. Few other important 17th-century manuscript maps of the New England colonies have survived. It is also of interest that the earliest printed chart of Boston Harbor, which was published as part of "The English Pilot: The Fourth Book" (1689), shows many similarities to this map.
date
["[1688?]"]
year
1688
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
06_01_000065
creators
Wells, Phillip.
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Boston and New England Maps
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
Maritime Charts and Atlases
subjects
Nautical charts--Massachusetts--Boston Harbor--Early works to 1800
Massachusetts--Boston Harbor--Maps, Manuscript--Early works to 1800
subjectsGeographic
Boston Harbor
Massachusetts
North and Central America
United States
genreBasic
Maps
Manuscripts
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
United States
state
Massachusetts
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
dn39z223t
schema:latitude
42.3333
schema:longitude
-70.9667
extent
1 ms. map : col. ; on sheet 59 x 46 cm.
notes
Depth shown by soundings.
Oriented with north to the right.
At lower right: "M. Carroll."
hasTranscription
no
dcId
x633f945h
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
9ad2ec28bcd62b5c