A View of CHARLES TOWN the Capital of South Carolina in North America

Date1768

Engraver Pierre-Charles Canot

After work by Thomas Mellish ca. 1748 - 1782

Printed for John Bowles 1701 - 1779

Printed for Thomas Jeffreys

MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 15 7/8 × 21 5/8 in (40.32 × 54.93cm)
Framed (overall): 18 11/16 × 24 7/8 × 1 1/8 in (47.47 × 63.18 × 2.86cm)
Platemark: 14 1/2 × 20 3/4 in (36.83 × 52.7cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1990-212

DescriptionLower margin reads: "A View of CHARLES TOWN the Capital of South Carolina in North America./ Vue de CHARLES TOWN Capitale de la Carolina du Sud dans l'Amérique Septentrionale./ Engraved by C. Canot from an Original Painting of T,,. Mellish, in the Collection of M..r John Bowles/ LONDON. Printed for John Bowles at N.o 14 in Cornhill, Rob.t Sayer at N.o 53 in Fleet Street, Tho.s Jefferys at the Corner of S.t Martins Lane in the Strand, & Carington Bowles at N.o 69 in S.t Pauls Church Yard."Label TextThe print depicts a sea view with Charles Town (Charleston), South Carolina sitting in the foreground behind and array of ships. This print is from a series of twenty-eight prints of American scenes published under the title "Scenographia Americana" in 1768. The images range widely in content and geographical location, depicting the military structures at Port Royal in Guadeloupe as well as the wilderness of Passaic Falls in New Jersey. Many of the prints commemorated sites where the English were victorious during the Seven Year’s War, and were the first, large, accurate, and elaborately engraved series of views of America.ProvenanceBefore 1990, W. Graham Arader III (New York, NY); 1990-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).