Heap & Scull View of Philadelphia, Jefferys

HEAP, George (active 1715-1760) and SCULL, Nicholas (1687-1761).
An East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia; taken by George Heap from the Jersey Shore, under the Direction of Nicholas Scull, Surveyor General of the Province of Pennsylvania.
Engraving. London: Thomas Jefferys, 1756.22 3/4" x 38" sheet, framed.

"Probably the finest view of an American city made before the Revolution" (Swift and McCusker). It was separately issued in 1756, and also appeared in Jeffrey's "A General Topography of North America", 1768. Both issues are very rare. The Sheet consists of a grand view of Philadelphia from the New Jersey shore along the upper margin (the "East Prospect"), which is admirably supplemented by a plan of the city (lower left), and fine views of "The State House" (lower right), and "The Battery" (lower center). The view proper (the "East Prospect") is adapted from Scull and Heap's mammoth earlier view of the city on six sheets, 1754, but with revisions suggested in the main by Thomas Penn. The size was reduced to one large but manageable sheet, the supplementary views and plan were added, and the view itself revised to include the Jersey shore of the Delaware River. The latter alteration was made so that the city would clearly be seen as a protected river port.