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Lot Essay
Thomas JOHNSTON, engraver (c.1708-1767) Quebec, the capital of New-France, a Bishoprick and Seat of the Soverain Court. [Boston, 1759.]
“Thomas Johnston’s prospect of Quebec is the most important engraved view of that city, as well as the earliest executed by an American.” (Deak, Picturing America, 1497-1899, Vol. I, p.47). The fall of Quebec to British forces under Wolfe in 1759 brought renewed interest in the city, the capture of which sealed the fate of French Canada. The London printsller, Stephen Whiting, Boston engraver Thomas Johnson sought to capture a view of the city, but without travelling there. Instead, Johnson adapted the 1718 inset map of Quebec by Nicholas de Fer. Deak notes that “The de Fer inset of Quebec appears in volume 6 (1719) [of H.A. Chatelain’s Atlas Historique (Amsterdam 1705-1720)] on a large Chatelain map descriptively entitled ‘Carte de la Nouvelle France ou se voit le cours des Grandes Rivieres de S. Laurens & de Mississipi…’ But Johnston’s engraving most closely resembles an updated version of the Quebec inset engraved by François Chereau, and advertisements in the Boston papers boasted that it was “from the latest and most authentic French original, done at Paris.”’ (Ibid.). Deak 78, Stauffer, 1505. I.N. Phelps Stokes and D.C. Haskell, American Historical Prints Early Views of American Cities, etc., New York, 1933, p.19, P.1758 – B-17.
Hand colored engraving. Image - 5 3/8 x 8 7/8 in (137 x 225mm), sheet - 8 x 10 in (203 x 254mm). (Moderate toning, wormholes in text repaired.) Affixed to a mat along top margin and framed.
“Thomas Johnston’s prospect of Quebec is the most important engraved view of that city, as well as the earliest executed by an American.” (Deak, Picturing America, 1497-1899, Vol. I, p.47). The fall of Quebec to British forces under Wolfe in 1759 brought renewed interest in the city, the capture of which sealed the fate of French Canada. The London printsller, Stephen Whiting, Boston engraver Thomas Johnson sought to capture a view of the city, but without travelling there. Instead, Johnson adapted the 1718 inset map of Quebec by Nicholas de Fer. Deak notes that “The de Fer inset of Quebec appears in volume 6 (1719) [of H.A. Chatelain’s Atlas Historique (Amsterdam 1705-1720)] on a large Chatelain map descriptively entitled ‘Carte de la Nouvelle France ou se voit le cours des Grandes Rivieres de S. Laurens & de Mississipi…’ But Johnston’s engraving most closely resembles an updated version of the Quebec inset engraved by François Chereau, and advertisements in the Boston papers boasted that it was “from the latest and most authentic French original, done at Paris.”’ (Ibid.). Deak 78, Stauffer, 1505. I.N. Phelps Stokes and D.C. Haskell, American Historical Prints Early Views of American Cities, etc., New York, 1933, p.19, P.1758 – B-17.
Hand colored engraving. Image - 5 3/8 x 8 7/8 in (137 x 225mm), sheet - 8 x 10 in (203 x 254mm). (Moderate toning, wormholes in text repaired.) Affixed to a mat along top margin and framed.