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HILLS, John. A Plan of the City of Philadelphia a

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Philadelphia: Hills, [c. 1810]. Map engraved by William Kneass, printed on nine sheets and joined, linen-backed and affixed with wooden rollers, hand-colored (1050 x 1040 mm). Allegorical vignettes in the lower corners. Three textual overlays in the lower margin. Significant manuscript additions on the map by Hills [see below]. Condition: very minor losses, expertly restored with the linen-backing renewed. a magnificent and justly-famous circular map of the region ten miles around the center of philadelphia, with manuscript additions by the cartographer. Shortly following the publication of his rectangular 1797 map of Philadelphia, John Hills must have begun work on this impressive circular map. It would be the pinnacle of his career dating back to his time as a British engineering officer in the American Revolution. The map includes a copious amount of information not found on other early maps of the greater Philadelphia region: roads, mills, topography, canals, waterways, schools, taverns, places of worship, etc. But above all is the remarkable detail displaying the names of landowners, the bounds of their property and the dates of settlement. Many of these details are present on this map in manuscript. Although first issued in 1809 (copyrighted 1808), Hills continually updated his map, first in manuscript, followed by printed additions, updated again in manuscript and so on. It is believed that only two copies of this map are alike. The dating of this copy to c. 1810 is derived from the text in the lower, central margin, which includes statistical information about shipping and trade to January 1810. The lovely allegorical scenes in the bottom corners contribute to making this map not only important from cartographic and cadastral standpoints, but as a highly decorative example of an early 19th century American wall map. In the lower left corner, Science is instructing youths in Fine Arts, with the prime Philadelphia example of that phenomen in the background, i.e. the Centre Square water works designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. In the lower right corner, Minerva teaches youths about navigation and commerce, with an American flag adorned clipper ship in the harbor behind her representing the booming Philadelphia economy. The text in the upper corners of the map include notice of receipt of a copy by the House of Representatives and its deposit in the Library of Congress and a dedication by Hills to the map's subscribers. Below the title are references explaining the symbols and coloring. The map is quite rare, with most known copies in institutions; those that are extant are generally found in the poor condition often associated with American wall maps from this early era. Phillips, p. 703; Phillips, Descriptive List of Maps and Views of Philadelphia 181.

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