The Old Print Shop

A View of Boston taken on the Road to Dorchester.

  • ARTIST: William Pierie

  • PUBLISHER: Published by J. F .W. Des Barres, Esqr. May 19th, 1779.

  • MEDIUM: Engraving,

    DATE: 1776.

  • EDITION SIZE: Image size 16 1/2 x 24 1/2" (62.4 x 42 cm).

  • DESCRIPTION: A beautiful, early and quite scarce view of the city of Boston as seen shortly before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. This engraving appeared in "The Atlantic Neptune" by Captain Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres. The "Atlantic Neptune" is one of the finest large scale sea atlases of the U.S. and Canadian Atlantic coast line ever produced. The charts in the atlas were produced over a nine-year period (1775-84) and are well known for their accurate portrayal of various sounds, bays, bars, and harbors, as well as navigational hazards. This atlas was used extensively by the Royal Navy during the American Revolution. No two copies of the “Atlantic Neptune” are alike, as they were compiled according to the needs of the ship for which it was intended, although the final deluxe edition of 1784 included 258 plates. Des Barres involved himself in the printing and publishing of the plates, much as he had seen to the accuracy of the surveys. This view was drawn by William Pierrie, a British artillery officer, and only appeared in the earliest editions of the work which is very rarely seen on the market today.

  • ADDITIONAL INFO:

  • CONDITION: Very good condition. Black & white.

  • REFERENCE: Deak #132.