1779 London Magazine View of Charleston, South Carolina (after Bishop Roberts)

This is the most important early view of Charleston, South Carolina. This view of Charleston was published in 1779 by the London Magazine. It is one of the few images available to the collector of the pre-Revolutionary colonial south, capturing the city when it was the fourth largest port in the North American British colonies. It is based on the unobtainable rare view of the same title engraved by William Henry Toms (c. 1700 - 1765) in 1739, in turn based on a watercolor painted from life by American artist Bishop Roberts between 1735 and 1739. (This original watercolor is in the collection of Colonial Williamsburg.) The view shows the waterfront of the city as seen from the opposite bank of the Cooper River. It clearly illustrates the town's shoreline batteries, warehouses, and wharves. Several structures are marked with a letter key: these are the Granville Bastion, the courthouse, the council chamber, the Quaker meeting house, the spire of Saint Philip's Church, the Customs House, and at the far-right Craven's Bastion. The waters of the Cooper are filled with ships, ranging from humble rowboats to British warships - underscoring both Charleston's prosperity and military significance. In the foreground, a group of fishermen wrestle a great fishnet ashore. The beautifully engraved sky above the city is teeming with birds.

Publication History and Census

This is the re-engraved, 1779 imprint of this view, originally cut in 1762. Both issues were for publication in the London Magazine. They are virtually identical in content but can be distinguished by the absence (in this issue) of one ship to the left of the British warship at the far left foreground. There is one example of this view listed in OCLC (a badly damaged copy of the 1779 at the Library of Congress, misdated 1762). An actual example of the 1762 is part of the Colonial Williamsburg collection.