IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 'rlM ilM >^^ IM |||||Z2 2.0 .8 U III 1.6 V} ^ n /a e. e/A /A '/ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEDSTER.N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 tt Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for film', • n. - , - *' HUBBARD'S MAP OF NEW ENGLAND, ENGRAVED PROBABLY BY JOHN FOSTER, THE FIRST PRINTER OF BOSTON. REMARKS JiX^'-i BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, November 8, 1888. BY SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN, M.D. Wli{\j a JFaC'Sttntle of ti)e fHaii. CAMBRIDGE: JOHN WILSON AND SON. 1888. HUBBARD'S MAP OF NEW ENGLAND. At a meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, held on November 8, 1888, Dr. Samuel A. Green made the following remarks on the copy of a Map of New England, which he exhibited and which appeared originally in Hubbard's Narrative : — Among the earliest books issued from the press of John Foster, the pioneer printer of Boston, was " A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England," by William Hubbard, minister of Ipswich, — now a book of great rarity. It was printed in the early part of the year 1677, and soon afterward was republished in Loudon. Many of the facts were obtained by the author from persons who " were present in the particular Actions " ; and for various other reasons the work is highly valued by American scholars. Though inac- curate in some respects, the Narrative has so prominent a place among original historical authorities that it can never be superseded. Just before the text are thirty-four poetical lines addressed " To the Reverend Mr. William Hubbard on his most exact History of New-Englands Troubles,'^ signed " J. S.," and supposed to be by Jeremiah Shepard, minister of Rowley, which are followed by thirty-eight more, " Upon the elaborate Survey of New-Englands Passions from the Natives by the impartial Pen of that worthy Divine Mr. William r'm Hubbard," signed " B. T," who was Benjamin Tompson, the earliest native American poet. The book contains a Map of New England, which is full of interest as being the first one ever cut in this country. It was engraved for the work, and, as might have been ex- pected, was very crude in its execution and inaccurate in its details. Unlike the common way of showing the cardinal points, the top of the map represents the West, and the bot- tom represents the East. There are two heavy lines drawn up and down (East and West), which are intended to mark the boundaries of the Massachusetts Colony. The charter, it will be remembered, gave the Company all the land lying between a parallel three miles south of any part of the Charles River, and a similar parallel three miles north of the Merrimack River ; and these lines were supposed to bound this territory. The engraver, who evidently was not used to the relation of distances, included a considerable part of Plymouth Colony within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; and even the town of Plymouth W3 brought within the limits of the Bay Colony. In order to remedy this defect and restore the territory to the rightful owners he drew a lighter line from Scituate to Medfield, as a concession to the Old Colony. During the past twenty years this map has been the subject of considerable research on the part of a few bibliographical students, who have in some instances printed the result of their investigations. I now purpose to make a few remarks supplementary to the valuable notes on the same subject, presented by Mr. Deane, at the last November meeting of the Society. Two years ago I procured from Mr. George E. Littlefield, the antiquarian bookseller in Cornhill, this copy of the " Wine Hills " map. He had found it in an imperfect copy of Wil- liam Wood's "New Englands Prospect" (London, 1635), where it had been inserted in the place of another. Mr. Littlefield's practised eye at once detected it as the original map of Hubbard's Narrative, — which was printed more than )8on, the is full of I try. It >een ex- ;e in its cardinal the bot- i drawn to mark arter, it d lying of the L of the ) bound used to part of lusetts ; lin the I defect drew a to the subject aphical jsult of em arks lubject, : of the tlefield, " Wine 3f Wil- 1635), '. Mr. )riginal 'e than forty years after Wood's little book, — and I accordingly bought it. The title, in the upper right-hand corner, runs thus, line for line : — A MAP OF JVE^- EJV^GLJJVD, Being the firjl that a'er was here cut, and done by the bcjl Pattern that could he had which being in fome places defeHive, it made the other lefs exafl: yet doth it fufficiently Jliezv the Scitua- tion of the Countrey, and conveniently well the dijlance of Places. The figures that are joyned with the Names of Places are to diftinguifh fuch as have been af- faulted by the Indians from others. The dimensions of the map are \\\ inches by 15-J inches, including a border of a quarter of an inch in width or perhaps a trifle less. It was, without doubt, inserted in the volume 80 that it would face the unnumbered page immediately after page 132, which begins, " A Table shewing the Towns and places," etc. I have never yet seen a copy of the Boston edi- tion of this book in good order and in the original binding ; but most other copies, on a careful examination, still show traces of the map at the page indicated above. Furthermore, there is no catchword at the bottom of page 132, which fur- nishes another reason for believing that a blank page or a map belongs in that place. This statement does not apply to the London edition, where the map was probably inserted before the titlepage. I have seen a copy of the English edi- tion, apparently in its original condition, so far as the map is concerned, and that had a " Wine Hills " map at the beginning of the book. Mr. Deane, in his Notes, has shown conclusively that the " White Hills " map was printed after the " Wine Hills" map and from a separate wood-cut. It was also a trifle larger. 6 perhaps a third of an inch, both in length and width ; and instead of a single border line around the edge, it has two lines, of which the outer line is considerably broader than the inner one. This map is of extreme rarity ; and I have never seen but two copies, — one copy now in the Lenox Library, and the other, somewhat imperfect, which was given to the Historical Society in the summer of 1800, by the Reverend Isaac Mansfield, minister of Marblehead. The letter accom- panying the gift is still preserved among the files of the Cor- responding Secretary (Vol. V.), and is of sufficient interest to be read with these remarks, as follows : — bion 4he %88 tiou he )0S( ^BO hav to ces8 circ I I Makblehead July 1-1800 Sir, — Samuel Cheever, graduated 1659, was the first Minister in this Town. His Son Amos Cheever (my Grandfather) graduated 1707 was the first Minister in Manchester. The enclosed Map passed from Samuel Cheever to Amos Cheever, and thence gradatim to me; in the Interim it was copied hy the Grandfather of the present Col. Lee of this Town, who was about & after that time a respectable Parishioner of Amos Cheever. Col. Lee observing my curiosity, has been so kind as to compliment me with his Grandfathers copy ; which is to me a luxurious gratifica- tion : by which means I am accommodated with a duplicate. The enclosed being the original & probably the first impression of the kind that was ever made from a wooden (not a copper) plate, I feel disposed to deposit in the archives of the historical Society. If it may be considered as acceptable I shall not only submit the game, but flatter myself with an Idea of being considered by them as a Friend to the Arts & Sciences in their infantile & progressive Stages Isaac Mansfield Please to excuse the porch being so out of proportion with the house ; I do not profess to be engaged in the Theory of Architecture. To The Rev? D'. John Eliott, Corre'>pondiag Secretary to the HUtorical Society, &c. This copy, until it was re-backed more than seven years ago, was glued to a piece of thin board, which was cracked in several places, but held together by two cleats, one at each end. It was considerably torn and otherwise in bad condi- width; and it has two er than the have never ox Library, iven to the 3 Reverend tter accom- of the Cor- mt interest ily 1-1800 > Minister in ) graduated 108 Cheever, JJed by the was about & er. compliment •us gratifica- • npression of ter) plate, I ety. submit the y them as a ve Stages Mansfield n with the hitecture. lie Historical ven years B cracked le at each ad condi- \ tion, and many fragments were missing, though presumably at the time of the gift it was in better order. In the spring of -1881 the map was taken off of the old back, piece by piece, inounted on crayon paper, and placed in a frame; but during ithe process it suffered from the change. Parts were trans- ,|po8ed, and in this way the dimensions somewhat increased; ^o much so that, according to the measurements, it seems to have been struck from another block. With no other copy ;to serve as a guide, the reparation was, perhaps, as suc- cessful as might have been expected under the existing icircumstances. In the justification of its lines the title of the " White •Hills " map varies a little from that of the " Wine Hills " one, as well as the cut of type used in the word "New-Eng- land " ; and it reads as follows, line for line : — A MAP OF JV^E^- EJ^GLAJ^D, Being the firjl that ever was here cut, and done by the bejl Pattern that could be had which being in fome places defeHive, it made the other lefs exafl: yet doth it fufficiently JJiew the Scituation of the Country, and conveniently well the dijlance of Places. The figures that are joyned with the Names of Places are to diftinguifh fuch as have been aflaulted by the Indians from others. There is no reason to doubt the fact that both these wood- cuts were made here, as is stated in the title, and that the impressions were struck off in Foster's printing-office. The types for the title were mortised in the block, and they cor- respond exactly with fonts then in use by Foster, as a comparison of Hubbard's Narrative, Mather's Brief History (Boston, 1676), and other books bearing his imprint will show. Unfortunately neither the designer nor the engraver of the map is now known positively, and its origin is left to conjec- ture. There is some reason for supposing that it was pre- pared by the author of the Narrative and engraved by the printer. It was made with special reference to the towns which were assaulted b}' the Indians during the previous year, and was adapted to the text in the "Table." Who could do this so well as Mr. Hubbard? Mr. Torapson, in his poetical lines already referred to, alludes to " thy new Map," which might mean the map made under Hubbard's direction and supervision. It is a matter of history that John Foster was an engraver as well as a printer, though probably his business as such was very limited. He died so young, — at the early age of thirty- two years, — that he scarcely had an opportunity to reach any distinction in this branch of art. In James Blake's Annals of Dorchester (Boston, 1846), under the year 1681, it is recorded: — |haj Ihe the I 11 iblel thinl refei the gra\ of t This year Died Mr. John Foster, Son of Capt. Hopestill Foster ; School-master of Dorchester, and be that made the then Seal or Arras of y' Colony, namely an Indian with a Bow & Arrow &c. (Page 29.) Mr. Blake was born at Dorchester, on April 30, 1688, and died on December 4, 1750 ; and of course he was familiar with all the local traditions of the town. His Annals were not published, however, until nearly a century after his death. It is known that the origin of the Colonial seal dates back to the earliest days of the Charter, so that this allusion must be to the engraver, and not to the designer. The annalist probably referred to the wood-cut impression of the " Seal or Arms of y^ Colony " which appears in Increase Mather's " Brief History of the Warr with the Indians in New-Eng- land" (page 15), printed by Foster only a few months before the publication of Hubbard's Narrative. The cut was un- doubtedly used in order to give an official appearance or L 9 raver of the ft to conjee- it was pre- aved by the the towns ■evious year, ho could do his poetical lap," which rection and m engraver as such was e of thirty- ty to reach les Blake's year 1681, still Foster; eal or Arras (Page 29.) 1688, and IS familiar mals were after his ates back sion must i annalist he "Seal Mather's 'few-Eng- hs before was un- rauce or feharacter to the various papers and documents printed for ^he Colonial authorities. It is of rude workmanship, but dis- )lay8, perhaps, a little more artistic skill than is shown by ^he engraver of the map. The late John Allen Lewis, in writing of the printer, says : I It has been for some years one of my desires to prepare an accept- able memoir of John Foster, and to that end T have preserved every- thing that was purchasable coming from his press, and every item referring to him. After a while I came to look upon Foster as one of the great men of that great age, — a scholar, a thinker, a printer, en- graver, clieraist, — a man worthy of the love, friendship, and admiration of the Mathers. Had Foster lived to the age that Franklin reached, Franklin might have been called a " second Foster." (Sibley's Har- vard Graduates, II. 226.) At the time of Foster's death in Dorchester, on September 9, 1681, a funeral elegy was composed by his friend, Thomas Tileston, and dedicated to his memory. In these verses the author speaks of him as " a cunning Artist," and refers to " his accurate Geography." I am inclined to think that these allu- Rions are to the engraver and the map. In the inventory of Foster's estate, dated October 6, 1G81, his " carving tooles " — which could be no other than engraver's tools — and also "his cutts & colours" are mentioned. What "colours" are referred to, I do not know, but evidently the " cutts " were his engraved blocks. During the night of September 16, 1690, nine years after his death, a printing-office in Boston was burned,^ which was the one that belonged probably to his lineal, though not immediate, successor in business ; and thus, perhaps, disappeared the last vestige of his handicraft with these " carving tooles." It has been a subject of some interest at what particular period of the year Hubbard's Narrative first appeared in Bos- ton. By itself the matter is of little importance, but the ques- tion is connected with certain other collateral ones. It has been assumed that this edition of the work was set up after 1 Historical Magazine, I. 229. 10 } the date of the Colonial license, which is probably not the fact! The book was printed, though perhaps only the first part, and circulated before March 19, 1676-7. Under this date Johr^ Cotton writes from Plymouth to Increase Mather, as follows: I could have desired to have kept your booke a few days longer! whereby it might have bin filled with marginal notes of Erratas. Oui Gov' & Magi8trat[es] had some cursory perusall of the booke, the mis] takes are Judged to be many more than the truths in it. Our Gov' &^ JMag's doe affirm that Alexander was got home before he dyed.^ % By the light of subsequent letters, it is certain that the book here referred to was Hubbard's Narrative ; and it it equally clear that it was not in manuscript, though it maj"| have been an advance copy. This free expression of opinions by Cotton caused some hard feeling toward hirn on the part of I Hubbard, and occasioned a sharp correspondence. The au- v thor of the Narrative was desirous to obtain from the Plymouth J authorities an approval of his work, similar to that given by^ the Colony of Massachusetts, but the wish was not gratified. I am aware that the date " April, 1677," appears in the^ text of the first part, near the end, which at first sight would indicate that the book was printed after that time ; but a double-leaded space immediately before this date, in connec- tion with the foregoing facts, leaves it a fair inference that these few lines were added after the main portion of the first part had appeared. In the Boston edition of the Narrative are two lists of Errata, — one of them appearing near the beginning of the book, and the other at the end. In the London edition there is no similar list, thougli the corrections for the most part have been duly made, which shows that the English printers had the benefit of them both. 1 Collectiona«liBBi series, VIII. 232. A ''ir u •MMM ■"""■"""nwi^vm* ■^TT \y not the fac ! first part, an this date Johr, 3r, as follows : few days longer, f Erratas. On » booke, the mis it. Our Gov' & he dyed.^ 'tain that the I e ; and it isj | bough it ma}' on of opinionl on the part of^ ce. The au- the Plymouth hat given byf ot gratified. I ppears in the*^ : sight wouldi time ; but a| e, in connec-l iference that* I of the first I two lists of,;, fining of the^ edition there e most part lish printers 7^ A MAP OF NEfF-ENqLAND, Bei^g the firft that ever was here eut^ Mnddone by the heft ?»ttern thst could he had which being infomepUeesdefeQ'ivfyit made the other left exfEl: yet doth it fuffieientlyffew the Seitt*' tion of the CoHHtrey, and tonveniently weU the difiance of Placet, The figures that are joj^ned with the Names of Places are to diftinguifh fuch as have beea af- 'I. ""-U \ ''■^'?Kr: r i."-.-."Vcr-«*f.«'i5K«« lNew/icv«ien A FAC-SIMILE OF HUBBARD'S MAP OF From a cofy owned hy Dr. Samotsl A. Grkkh, .> m''£r$'*hW:^. •loB m. Z V 2 -. t § A M AP OF KEW-ENqLAND, Bting the firft that tvfr mti birt «»», smdJane hy the k^ ftttern thst c»uld be bad mhieb being iMfmeplMttdefeaivf, it tmttde tbeothtr hU exta: yet doth it fuffieieHttypte* the Seiti^- ttemftbe Cotnurey^ amd eoHvenientfy mtO the diftanee of Pheet, The figurei that ire joyned with the Namn rf Piac^ are to diftinguifh fiich u hare been aT- taulted by the IndiMS from others fi A Setle offMj Miles. 1= ThesWTiieJlinS: wtoii* J$t wi/er 14/ ^"^'^•Haiito'i I L^ifc— ^M^».^i^fc— ^^^— ^^^ ^ I6)ii['.>'ic^7^- 5^ L ' je m'. 5- ^.^ ::^r^:^i3;=S^^ mtio- r.y/f. ' ^j^'^^m^^^' htlutpe Printing Co .B'JotKi. A.RD'S MAP OF NEW ENGLAND. 7r. Sakitkl A. Grbbw, Boston, rSS8.