Sign In

- Or use -
Forgot Password Create Account
This item has been sold, but you can enter your email address to be notified if another example becomes available.
Description

The Best Practical Chart For Navigating The Waters of Boston Harbor During The American Revolution

Rare 18th Century sea chart of Boston Harbor, published by London's pre-eminent mapmaking firm of the period, Sayer & Bennett.

Published separately and included in the extremely rare North American Pilot, the chart depicts Boston Harbor from roughly Deer Island to Hull, with an exceptionally fine eye toward practical navigation.  While similar in time and content to Des Barres chart of Boston Harbor, the present chart provides a much more pragmatic and utilitarian approach to navigation in Boston's tricky waters.  The chart places its greatest emphasis on local details and practical sailing directions, unlike the Des Barres chart, which places far greater emphasis on topography, but is almost completely silent on practical guides for navigation, other than basic guidelines, relying on a separate sheet for sailing directions.  

Extensive soundings are given, with Boston Harbor’s ample hazards clearly marked.  The chart provides a remarkable amount of sailing notes and guidelines showing the optimal routes of navigation, complete with important visual cues on land for easy reference.   For example, accessing the “best channel” for the final approach to Boston requires one to sight on the “Charlestown Tree” situated on or near Breed’s Hill. 

On land there is a full street plan of Boston with several landmarks indicated, while the towns of Dorchester, Milton and Hull are shown schematically.  To the northwest are the “Ruins of Charlestown,” indicating that the chart was completed some time after the June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill.

This chart was first issued in Part the Second of the North American Pilot for New England, etc.  Drawn from original surveys taken by Capt. John Gascoigne, Joshua Fisher, James Blamey and other officers and pilots of His Majesty’s service.  It was reissued in 1800 by Laurie and Whittle for a new edition of The North American Pilot, though the two issues appear to be indistinguishable. 

Rarity

The last example of the map to appear in a dealer catalog was in 1991 (Arkway Catalogue XXXVI. Fine Antique Maps & Globes).

Condition Description
2 sheets, joined as issued.
Sayer & Bennett Biography

Sayer & Bennett refers to the partnership of Robert Sayer (ca. 1724-1794) and John Bennett (fl. 1760-d.1787), which lasted between 1774 and 1783. Bennett had been Sayer’s apprentice. The pair specialized in American atlases, based on the work of Thomas Jefferys, who plates had been acquired by Sayer when Jefferys went bankrupt in 1766. They also began publishing navigational charts in the 1780s and quickly became the largest supplier of British charts in the trade. However, in 1783 Bennett lost control of his mental faculties and the partnership dissolved as a result. Sayer’s business was later passed to his employees, Robert Laurie and James Whittle.