Anyone out there in Philadelphia, Nova Scotia, Fort Saint Philip?

[sigmapsidelta]

I think I may have rescued a trio of possibly important items.

One is a map, by N. Scull and G. Heap, of 'Philadelphia and Parts Adjacent.'

Another is a map, no maker noted, of 'The Harbour of Chebucto and Town of Halifax.'

The third is a map of 'Fort Saint Philip and its Environs with the French Encampments, Batteries &c.'

They are definitely not recent and are currently part-way through being conserved and restored. I found them laid onto a large piece of perspex, plainly to dry after some process. They had obviously been forgotten as they had been there for at least months, possibly years.

I did see the Philadelphia one being offered by a dealer. His was the first printing (it was published in a magazine of the mid 18th century). No idea how to tell a first print from a twenty first. But the paper it is printed on is, in my poor estimation, a good bet for 18th century.

The Halifax/Nova Scotia one has the arms of several families on it. Also two butterflies and a very odd-looking porcupine.

The third must be a coastal area as most of one edge is sea, indicated by the nine 3 masted warships afloat there. This seems to point to Revolutionary War or in the vicinity of it.

I shall dream for a while as the Philadelphia one I saw being offered was priced at $1,500 - and hope that this is a first print, too.

Not much idea how to look for the other two. No makers, no dates, no publisher.

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[argon38]

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@sigmapsidelta wrote:

Not much idea how to look for the other two. No makers, no dates, no publisher.

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https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&ei=iyGjXsaSOpCGhbIPhp-qkAY&q=%22Harbour+of+Chebucto... 

(I see what you mean about the porcupine).

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&ei=2yCjXoLFKMLF8gK3x7eQBg&q=%22Environs+with+the+Fr... 

[sigmapsidelta]

That's great, Argon. Thanks. Not sure if they're all from the same Magazine - at different times. The two of places in America are, which is what made me think the third was of somewhere in America, too. Apparently not.

The examples to be found via the links all seem to be better copies than these. Still, beggars can't be choosers - they did just fall into my lap for the startlingly low price of the energy it took to peel them from a sheet of perspex.

I offered to send copies of them to anyone who wanted them on a US metal detecting site. Had two takers for the Philadelphia map. It has lots of excellent pointers on it for finding good search sites.

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[bugler1998]

sigma:

While I have little knowledge in your area, have you found out anything else?

[sigmapsidelta]

Nothing much about the Fort Saint Philip one. It seems the Nova Scotia one came from the same magazine title, around the same time, as the Philadelphia one. They both appear to be 'right' for copies lifted from those magazines published in the 1750s.

Maps aren't really my thing either. All three are sort of stabilized on conservation webbing, but they need more work of a kind that I'm not trained to do. I thought about just putting them up as a lot for auction, but keep hesitating due to not really knowing a sensible price to start at in case they go for a single bid, or I'm reaching too high and they don't go at all.

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[taylor_memorial]

Not sure how much energy you want to put into the whole thing, but you can try to find on line maps of Philadelphia that are from some short time later to see if they match what you have.

Growth was pretty fast in those days, maps changed a lot.

It's a labor intensive proprosition but you could possibly zero in on a date of the first change from what you have and determine if there was likely a second printing. I mean--the whole printing thing wasn't as wide spread here in those days.

[argon38]

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@taylor_memorial wrote:

Not sure how much energy you want to put into the whole thing, but you can try to find on line maps of Philadelphia that are from some short time later to see if they match what you have.

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I'm a little mystified about the ongoing discussion/uncertainty regarding these maps. The sources of the two previously  unidentified ones are clearly and unambiguously stated in the Google links I provided above.

[argon38]

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@sigmapsidelta wrote:

Nothing much about the Fort Saint Philip one.

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The second Google link I gave already covered this map! Perhaps this will help:

One is a map, by N. Scull and G. Heap, of 'Philadelphia and Parts Adjacent.'
- Originally appeared in: Gentleman's Magazine vol. 23 (1753), August issue [plate description on pp. 373-74]

Another is a map, no maker noted, of 'The Harbour of Chebucto and Town of Halifax.'
- Originally appeared in: Gentleman's Magazine vol. 20 (1750), July issue [between pp. 294 and 295]

The third is a map of 'Fort Saint Philip and its Environs with the French Encampments, Batteries &c.'

- Originally appeared in: Gentleman's Magazine vol. 26 (1756), July issue [plate description on p. 324]

Of course, you may have a later reprint of one or more of the maps. But all three originally appeared in the same magazine.