Boston Bay (French), 1778

Georges-Louis Le Rouge published this French chart of Boston Bay as part of his Pilote Americain Septentrional, translating British survey data for a new ally's navy. France had entered the war in February 1778, and its fleet needed navigational intelligence for American waters. City blocks on the Boston peninsula are colored in different shades, the harbor islands are carefully outlined, and radiating rhumb lines provide compass bearings for approaching ships. Soundings, shoals, and channel markings fill the water.

  • The rhumb lines radiating across the harbor. They provided compass bearings for French navigators approaching Boston.
  • The soundings dotting the harbor and channels; each number is a depth measurement translated from British surveys.
  • The colored city blocks on the Boston peninsula. Different shades distinguish the built environment at a glance.

All prints are high-quality reproductions made from museum-grade scans at 300 DPI. Depending on the original scan dimensions, some prints may include white fill along the edges.

$39.00