![[PENNSYLVANIA-MARYLAND BOUNDARY DISPUTE]. In Chancery. Breviate. John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard Penn, Esqurs; Plaintiffs. Charles Calvert, Esq; Lord Baltimore... Defendant. For the Plaintiffs. Upon a Bill to compell a Specifick Execution of Articles of Agreement entred into between the Partys for setling the Boundarys of the Province of Pensilvania, the Three Lower Countys, and the Province of Maryland, and for perpetuating Testimony, &c. Mr. Attorney General Sir Dudley Ryder. Mr. Sollicitor General Murray. Mr. King's Council Noell. Paris and Weston Sollicitors. [London, ca 1743?].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2012/NYR/2012_NYR_02655_0129_000(pennsylvania-maryland_boundary_dispute_in_chancery_breviate_john_penn124752).jpg?w=1)
Details
[PENNSYLVANIA-MARYLAND BOUNDARY DISPUTE]. In Chancery. Breviate. John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard Penn, Esqurs; Plaintiffs. Charles Calvert, Esq; Lord Baltimore... Defendant. For the Plaintiffs. Upon a Bill to compell a Specifick Execution of Articles of Agreement entred into between the Partys for setling the Boundarys of the Province of Pensilvania, the Three Lower Countys, and the Province of Maryland, and for perpetuating Testimony, &c. Mr. Attorney General Sir Dudley Ryder. Mr. Sollicitor General Murray. Mr. King's Council Noell. Paris and Weston Sollicitors. [London, ca 1743?].
2o (461 x 332 mm). Title; two leaves index; 116 numbered text leaves. Text printed on rectos only. TWO ENGRAVED MAPS: engraved map of Pennsylvania, Maryland and part of Virginia (380 x 249 mm) by Thomas Hutchinson, published by John Senex; engraved double-page map: "A Map of parts of the Provinces of Pensylvania and Maryland with the Counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware according to the most exact Surveys yet made drawn in the Year 1740" (463 x 547 mm) attributed to Benjamin Eastburn (shaved at bottom with loss of two witness's names). Contemporary English blind-paneled reversed calf, red morocco lettering piece (some wear to extremities, small loss on back cover, a few stains). Provenance: Thomas W. Streeter (bookplate; his sale, Parke-Bernet, 20 April 1967, lot 955); anonymous consignor, Sotheby's New York, 31 October 1984, lot 48.
FIRST EDITION, probably printed only for the use of the parties immediately concerned and not for sale. A highly important repository of information relating to the long-standing boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The bitter dispute between the Penn and Calvert familes lasted for more than 80 years after William Penn received his grant for Pennsylvania on 4 March 1681. Lord Baltimore had been granted Maryland by Charles I in 1632, giving him the territory from 40o north latitude southward to the south bank of the Potomac River and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. Penn's charter was from 40o to 43o north latitude. Careless wording in the charters, combined with inadequate understanding of the region's geography resulted in confusion over the boundary, since 40o had been inaccurately surveyed in 1832 when Calvert's chart was granted.
The controversy was still unresolved in 1731 when attorney Ferdinando John Paris was solicited to act as mediator. Each side was asked to produce maps. At Charles Calvert's insistence, his map was chosen as the basis for negotiations. The map was taken to London cartographer John Senex, with the engraving executed by his journeyman Thomas Hutchinson. Calvert's map actually cost him thousands of acres, because it was based on Nicholas Visscher's Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae (ca 1684) which incorrectly placed Cape Henlopen twenty-five miles below its true position. The controversy was not settled until Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey in 1768.
This brief was published in either 1742 or 1743. It was not published before 11 August 1742, the date at the end of the Schedule, folio 33, and could have been published soon after 26 October 1742, the date when Lord Baltimore was able to make Sir Dudley Rider, his attorney general who is named on the title-page, a party to the proceedings. At folio 76 is a passage relating to the efforts to borrow Sir Hans Sloane's copy of the Relation of Maryland (1635) to use as evidence in the case. Sloane eventually consented to this. Folio 88 includes a reference to printing by William Marks in Maryland in 1732.
The original manuscript for the double-page map is in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Various boundary lines proposed by the Penns and Lord Baltimore are drawn on the map which was engraved by John Senex. Cape Henlopen is shown about 22 miles south of its correct position at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. This was done to show that Penn's lands extended south of Delaware Bay, and therefore the Bay was under Penn's jurisdiction. VERY RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, this is the only copy to appear on the market in the last century. Pritchard & Taliaferro Degrees of Latitude 23 (first map); Sabin 34416; Streeter sale II:955 (this copy).
2o (461 x 332 mm). Title; two leaves index; 116 numbered text leaves. Text printed on rectos only. TWO ENGRAVED MAPS: engraved map of Pennsylvania, Maryland and part of Virginia (380 x 249 mm) by Thomas Hutchinson, published by John Senex; engraved double-page map: "A Map of parts of the Provinces of Pensylvania and Maryland with the Counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware according to the most exact Surveys yet made drawn in the Year 1740" (463 x 547 mm) attributed to Benjamin Eastburn (shaved at bottom with loss of two witness's names). Contemporary English blind-paneled reversed calf, red morocco lettering piece (some wear to extremities, small loss on back cover, a few stains). Provenance: Thomas W. Streeter (bookplate; his sale, Parke-Bernet, 20 April 1967, lot 955); anonymous consignor, Sotheby's New York, 31 October 1984, lot 48.
FIRST EDITION, probably printed only for the use of the parties immediately concerned and not for sale. A highly important repository of information relating to the long-standing boundary dispute between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The bitter dispute between the Penn and Calvert familes lasted for more than 80 years after William Penn received his grant for Pennsylvania on 4 March 1681. Lord Baltimore had been granted Maryland by Charles I in 1632, giving him the territory from 40o north latitude southward to the south bank of the Potomac River and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. Penn's charter was from 40o to 43o north latitude. Careless wording in the charters, combined with inadequate understanding of the region's geography resulted in confusion over the boundary, since 40o had been inaccurately surveyed in 1832 when Calvert's chart was granted.
The controversy was still unresolved in 1731 when attorney Ferdinando John Paris was solicited to act as mediator. Each side was asked to produce maps. At Charles Calvert's insistence, his map was chosen as the basis for negotiations. The map was taken to London cartographer John Senex, with the engraving executed by his journeyman Thomas Hutchinson. Calvert's map actually cost him thousands of acres, because it was based on Nicholas Visscher's Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae (ca 1684) which incorrectly placed Cape Henlopen twenty-five miles below its true position. The controversy was not settled until Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey in 1768.
This brief was published in either 1742 or 1743. It was not published before 11 August 1742, the date at the end of the Schedule, folio 33, and could have been published soon after 26 October 1742, the date when Lord Baltimore was able to make Sir Dudley Rider, his attorney general who is named on the title-page, a party to the proceedings. At folio 76 is a passage relating to the efforts to borrow Sir Hans Sloane's copy of the Relation of Maryland (1635) to use as evidence in the case. Sloane eventually consented to this. Folio 88 includes a reference to printing by William Marks in Maryland in 1732.
The original manuscript for the double-page map is in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Various boundary lines proposed by the Penns and Lord Baltimore are drawn on the map which was engraved by John Senex. Cape Henlopen is shown about 22 miles south of its correct position at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. This was done to show that Penn's lands extended south of Delaware Bay, and therefore the Bay was under Penn's jurisdiction. VERY RARE: according to American Book Prices Current, this is the only copy to appear on the market in the last century. Pritchard & Taliaferro Degrees of Latitude 23 (first map); Sabin 34416; Streeter sale II:955 (this copy).