tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post7659420820254756708..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: A Map of the Massacre to Explore Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-3190906048002884852017-03-14T23:56:00.197-05:002017-03-14T23:56:00.197-05:00In that footnote Chamberlain wrote that “Revere en...In that footnote Chamberlain wrote that “Revere engraved a large folding picture of the massacre, which appeared in the official <i>Short Narrative</i>.” That appears to have been an error prompted by a single copy of the report with the famous engraving bound in at the front. I fear that he might have made other assumptions. J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-47056795797431758532017-03-14T23:16:22.341-05:002017-03-14T23:16:22.341-05:00According to "A Record of the Streets, Alleys...According to "A Record of the Streets, Alleys, Places, Etc., in the City of Boston", published in 1910, Fitche's Alley was later known as Change Avenue. It was on the north side of King (State) Street, but east of Exchange Lane. On Revere's drawing, it would have been on the right side of King Street, but off of the bottom edge, below Col. Marshall's house.Charles Bahnenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-79459924484563814842017-03-14T23:02:55.692-05:002017-03-14T23:02:55.692-05:00Since I'm the one who raised the possibility o...Since I'm the one who raised the possibility of a key on the reverse of the document, let me expand on that subject.<br /><br />For those who aren't aware of the provenance of this document, it was collected by Mellen Chamberlain, a noted historian and librarian of the late 19th century, and the librarian-in-chief of the Boston Public Library from 1878 to 1890. It was Chamberlain who mounted it on the brown board labeled "Paul Revere's Plan", and who then donated it to the BPL.<br /><br />Here's a link to Chamberlain's own 1887 description of the plan -- look in the footnote at the bottom of page 47:<br />https://books.google.com/books?id=YLxYAAAAMAAJ<br /><br />Elbridge Goss, in his 1891 biography "The Life of Colonel Paul Revere" (vol. 1, pp. 72-73) reprints the plan and the key with a comment that "The key to the letters in the streets, which was a part of the original drawing, is lost."<br />https://books.google.com/books?id=HEtgrZJmu9oC<br /><br />It was a 20th-century writer, I forget who, that first suggested that the key had been on the reverse of the plan, and thus had been obscured when the plan was mounted on the board. That writer also suggested that the act of separating the original document from the mounting board might permanently destroy whatever was written on the back.<br /><br />It is certainly true that some recent imaging technology might be able to detect the key, but there is a much easier way. If you follow the link that J.L. has thoughtfully provided, <br />http://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/vh53x374w<br />you'll see that the BPL and Digital Commonwealth have provided three images of the document. They have, in fact, been able to separate the original from the mounting board, without causing damage.<br /><br />The first image in their file is the front of the document, framed by the mounting board. The third image in their file is the reverse of the mounting board. And the second image in the file is the reverse of the original, undamaged document. If you look carefully at this second image, there is a faintly visible mirror image of the original plan, which has bled through the paper. And you can see some crease lines, which match the ones on the front of the document where it was once folded.<br /><br />Otherwise, the back of the original document is completely blank. There is no key on it; there never was.<br /><br />The key, if it ever existed, was on a different piece of paper.<br />Charles Bahnenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-29183892015706952522017-03-14T15:21:06.792-05:002017-03-14T15:21:06.792-05:00I don't think there's a 5 near the body la...I don't think there's a 5 near the body labeled A. I think that's a 1 written like a J, as Revere did in other prints. (See the upper right corner of his <a href="http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Inventories/Revere/b2f1.jpg" rel="nofollow">troop landing image</a>.) It’s also conceivable that Revere first did write that as a J because Attucks was first named as Michael Johnson. To make that numeral into a 5 seems to require using some of the figure's hand.<br /><br />We have lots of eyewitness testimony putting Attucks and Gray up near the soldiers, some putting Caldwell and Monk in the middle of the crowd. <br /><br />I think you're right about John Green at the left, despite the traditional identification of that figure as Samuel Maverick. One of the Ms must be Maverick; Dr. Richard Hirons, who treated him that night, said the boy told him he was shot “betwixt Royal Exchange Lane and the Town House, going up towards the Town House.” <br /><br />As for the key on the back, I haven’t come across mentions of it in early descriptions of the drawing, so I wonder if the thought of one was simply later speculation. Protecting the back from sunlight and air would presumably preserve ink there rather than make it disappear. J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-2101815929051038312017-03-13T22:13:21.351-05:002017-03-13T22:13:21.351-05:00Sorry. One more thought.
In a deposition Patrick C...Sorry. One more thought.<br />In a deposition Patrick Carr (Cole)'s friend reported he took him after he was wounded into Fitch's Alley. The alley opposite the west side of the State house? If so, then Carr is likely the circle with the crossed out 5. If so, then the conjectural key is:<br /><br /># Letter Name Wound<br />x M Samuel Maverick belly/back<br />2 G Samuel Gray head<br />3 C James Caldwell chest (2)<br />4 G John Green thigh<br />5 A Crispus Attucks chest (2)<br />5 Error Patrick Cole / Carr hip /side<br />6 P Robert Patterson right arm<br />7 P David Parker thigh / no exit<br />8 P Edward Payne doorway<br />9 M Christopher Monk side/back<br />N.L N.L. John Clark groin/hip<br />G. Lovelynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-77324228380760682882017-03-13T21:46:05.496-05:002017-03-13T21:46:05.496-05:00The proposed key below is, of course, purely specu...The proposed key below is, of course, purely speculative, but it fits with the detailed information that appeared in "The Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News-Letter" on March 8, 1770, listing the victims and their injuries. It assumes the closer the person was to the troops the more severe the injury, and that the unlabeled circle was the least severely injured. (Cole?) <br /><br />Importantly the newspaper clearly states that John Green was wounded coming up Leverett's Lane, which was a portion of Quaker Lane (now Congress St.) thus making it likely, despite the drawing, that "4-G" is Green. Perhaps the drawing was just never finished, and the other figures never drawn despite more grievous wounds.<br /><br /># Letter Name Wound<br />x M Samuel Maverick belly/back<br />2 G Samuel Gray head<br />3 C James Caldwell chest (2)<br />4 G John Green thigh<br />5 A Crispus Attucks chest (2)<br />5 x-out John Clark groin/hip<br />6 P Robert Patterson right arm<br />7 P David Parker thigh / no exit<br />8 P Edward Payne doorway<br />9 M Christopher Monk side/back<br />N.L N.L. Patrick Cole hip /side<br /><br />G. Lovelynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-63802998313128358532017-03-13T20:11:15.566-05:002017-03-13T20:11:15.566-05:00If I zoom in it's clear Attucks is labeled &qu...If I zoom in it's clear Attucks is labeled "A" and "5". There doesn't appear to be a victim "1", though one of the "M"s is unnumbered, the only victim who is, Perhaps the crossed out 5 was merely an error and does not represent any victim. If there is a possible key on the back as Charles Bahne suggested I wonder, might some recent imaging technology be able to detect it?G. Lovelynoreply@blogger.com