Plan of the Town of Boston, with the Attack on Bunker's Hill, in the Peninsula of Charlestown the 17th of June 1775
DESCRIPTION
An extremely rare American-engraved plan of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill, produced in Boston by John Norman, among the earliest works of one of the most important American cartographers of the late eighteenth century.
Issued in its most desirable form, this example represents the first American edition of an image adapted from an inset in The Seat of War in New England, originally published in London in 1775. Norman’s engraving reflects both the immediacy of the conflict and the emerging independence of American mapmaking during the Revolutionary period.
The Battle Unfolding
The plan depicts Boston and Charlestown at a moment of crisis, with Charlestown engulfed in flames following British bombardment and the climactic stages of the Battle of Bunker Hill unfolding. British regulars, having twice been repulsed, advance toward the American redoubt and the well-known rail fence, where colonial forces under William Prescott and Israel Putnam make their stand. In the surrounding waters, a Royal Navy squadron fires into American positions from both the Charles River and Boston Harbor, intensifying the drama of the scene.
An engraved key identifies principal streets, landmarks, and the locations of active fires, reinforcing both the geographic clarity and narrative force of the composition. The map was originally issued in the exceedingly rare first American edition of An Impartial History of the War in America (Boston, 1781–1782), where it is often absent, making complete examples especially scarce.
John Norman and Early American Cartography
Norman, born in England in 1748, had established himself in America by the mid-1770s and relocated to Boston in 1781. He would soon become a leading figure in early American cartography, helping to fill the void left by the disappearance of British imports after independence. His later publication, The American Pilot remains his most celebrated work.
Among American Revolutionary battle plans, this engraving stands as one of the rarest and most historically compelling contemporary depictions of the conflict.
CONDITION
1200 W. 35th Street #425 Chicago, IL 60609 | P: (312) 496 - 3622