Engraved map, 368 x 432 mm. (Closed tear to outer edge, slightly affecting the inset map, outer margin partially trimmed close.) Inset of Boston based on a 1771 drawing of the city just after the Boston Massacre of 1770.

ONE OF THE EARLIEST MAPS INFORMING THE BRITISH PUBLIC OF MILITARY OPERATIONS IN BOSTON. The inset map is of particular interest, as it depicts a small vignette of a British encampment beside the Liberty Tree, the famed elm at the corner of present-day Washington and Essex Streets, long associated with gatherings of the Sons of Liberty following the Stamp Act of 1765. Felled by Loyalists in 1775, the tree nevertheless endured as a potent symbol of resistance, inspiring the erection of “Liberty poles” throughout the colonies. In the aftermath of the Boston Massacre, British forces were withdrawn to Castle Island to quell further unrest.