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Source Description
This most important battle plan of the New England theater of war shows, in detail, the American fortifications on Dorchester Heights forcing the British to leave Boston in 1776. This was the best printed plan of the city of Boston and its environs, to date. Finely engraved in aquatint and beautifully printed on heavy paper, this copy is one of perhaps six known examples signed in manuscript by the author. Pelham, a Loyalist, was born in Boston in 1748/9. The note that was engraved in the upper left of this map is a copy of the passport issued to Pelham two months after the Battle of Bunkers-Hill, giving him permission to examine the enemy lines. The aquatint is of interest, because of its high quality. It is known that Pelham consulted John Singleton Copley (Pelham's half brother) regarding the production of this map. Pelham was eleven years Copley's junior, and there is little question that Pelham learned to draw from his accomplished elder. The outstanding result is without question the finest cartographical print relating to the Revolutionary War.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
3f462w83q
label
A plan of Boston in New England with its environs
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
3f462w83q
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
A plan of Boston in New England with its environs
description
This most important battle plan of the New England theater of war shows, in detail, the American fortifications on Dorchester Heights forcing the British to leave Boston in 1776. This was the best printed plan of the city of Boston and its environs, to date. Finely engraved in aquatint and beautifully printed on heavy paper, this copy is one of perhaps six known examples signed in manuscript by the author. Pelham, a Loyalist, was born in Boston in 1748/9. The note that was engraved in the upper left of this map is a copy of the passport issued to Pelham two months after the Battle of Bunkers-Hill, giving him permission to examine the enemy lines. The aquatint is of interest, because of its high quality. It is known that Pelham consulted John Singleton Copley (Pelham's half brother) regarding the production of this map. Pelham was eleven years Copley's junior, and there is little question that Pelham learned to draw from his accomplished elder. The outstanding result is without question the finest cartographical print relating to the Revolutionary War.
date
["1777"]
year
1777
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA).
reuseAllowed
creative commons
language
English
identifierLocal
05_04_000001
creators
Pelham, Henry, 1749-1806
Jukes, Francis.
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
American Revolutionary War-Era Maps
Boston and New England Maps
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
Fortification--Massachusetts--Boston--Maps--Early works to 1800
Boston (Mass.)--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Maps--Early works to 1800
Boston (Mass.)--Buildings, structures, etc--Maps--Early works to 1800
subjectsGeographic
Boston
Massachusetts
North and Central America
Suffolk (county)
United States
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
United States
state
Massachusetts
county
Suffolk
city
Boston
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
London
publisher
H. Pelham
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
dn39z222j
schema:latitude
42.35
schema:longitude
-71.05
extent
1 map ; 98 x 69 cm.
notes
Relief shown by shading.
Depths shown by soundings.
Oriented with north toward the upper right.
Includes facsimile of pass issued by James Urquhart, town major, to allow free passage of Henry Pelham "to take a plan of the towns of Boston & Charlestown and the rebel works round these places."
Dedication "To the Right Honourable Lord George Germain ..."
Autographed signature of Henry Pelham.
Includes references to points of interest.
hasTranscription
no
dcId
3f462w83q
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
3f57473dcccac756