1760 Smyth / Sanby View of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada

Victim of the French and Indian War.

This is Hervey Smyth and Paul Sandby's portrayal of the settlement of Miramichi on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick that appeared in the 1760 Six Views of the Most Remarkable Places of the Gulf and River St. Laurence (later Scenographia Americana), published in London. The strategically located settlement was targeted by the British during the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) and completely sacked.

A Closer Look

The Miramichi River empties into Miramichi Bay, itself part of the larger Gulf of St. Lawrence. Several islands sit at the river's estuary, creating a natural defensive barrier and thus turning the Miramichi into a strategically important location on the Gulf of St. Lawrence despite being south of the Gaspé Peninsula and some distance from the St. Lawrence River. Several indigenous (Mi'Kmaq) and French settlements had existed along the river in the decades before the French and Indian War, including the eponymous trading post of Miramichi (in the vicinity of today's Bay du Vin), seen here, a 'French' trading post even though most of the inhabitants were indigenous. At the start of the French and Indian War, the Miramichi River became a refuge for Acadians facing British attacks and expulsion, and several refugee camps were established along the river.

Following the fall of the French fortress of Louisbourg, Brigadier-General James Wolfe ordered the Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign to eliminate French resource hubs in the region. In September 1758, British Commander James Murray arrived at Miramichi Bay with roughly 800 soldiers. While the low tides and shallow waters prevented the heavy British warships from sailing far enough upstream to destroy the main French camp at Beaubears Island, Murray's forces launched devastating raids on the outer coastal communities, razing homes, destroying crops, and burning down a local stone church. The Miramichi trading post was sacked and effectively erased from the map. This scorched-earth campaign successfully crippled the regional supply lines and forced the surviving Acadian refugees deeper into the wilderness.

The view recounts Murray's attack, with British troops rowing ashore in canoes from a larger ship in the river, with a smaller group of soldiers already having landed and formed ranks in the settlement. The settlement's buildings include a church (not the one burned) and some small houses. A cross set on a rock jutting out into the river was likely meant as a signal of refuge to fleeing Acadians.

'Scenographia Americana'

The view is part of a series of 28 images of American subjects known collectively as Scenographia Americana, a joint project involving many of London's top printers, engravers, and publishers. The individual drawings, including cities, seascapes, and natural scenes, were generally drawn on the spot, by military artists and surveyors, most serving in the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) - like Smyth. The full Scenographia Americana is an object of legendary rarity, with only a single example (Christies, 2022) appearing at auction in the last 30 years.

The publication of the Scenographia marked a sea change in the European sensibilities and perspectives on America. While America's dense forests, rugged mountains, endless plains, and enormous rivers were understood from a strategic and commercial perspective, little weight was given to their stunning visual appeal. Although many celebrate the Hudson River School of the 19th century as bringing America's natural beauty to the forefront of the art world, it was, in fact, recognized much earlier. Well-educated French and British officers, engineers, and nobility sent to fight the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) were rightly sensitive to the beauty around them and recorded it with passion, but primarily in textual missives. Scenographia consolidated these impressions into compelling and evocative engraved images.

Publication History and Census

The view was issued jointly by London's premier map and print publishers: John Bowles, Carington Bowles, Thomas Jefferys, Robert Sayer, and Henry Parker. It was drawn by Hervey Smyth, etched by Paul Sandby, and retouched by P. Benazech. This view was issued 1760 in a series called Six Views of the Most Remarkable Places of the Gulf and River St. Laurence. Later, in 1768, it was reissued in the 28-view Scenographia Americana.

Rare. Of the full Scenographia, we are aware of only 6 surviving examples, 4 in the U.S., another in England, and a sixth in private hands. The separate plates, some having been issued independently in larger quantities, are somewhat better represented institutionally. The present example has been trimmed to the neatline with an Italian decorative border added all around.

Cartographers

Hervey Smyth (1734 - 1811), also written Smythe, was a British army officer and a topographical painter active in the second half of the 18th century. Smythe is best known for his French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) service as aide-de-camp to General James Wolfe, particularly the 1758 Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign. His likeness was captured in Benjamin West's famous painting, The Death of General Wolfe, wherein Smyth is holding the general's hand. As a topographical painter, he completed several scenes during his service in America that were later engraved and published in the great Scenographia Americana.   Further Details...

Paul Sandby (1731 - November 7, 1809) was an English architect, cartographer, engraver, and landscape artist active in the second half of hte 18th and early 19th centuries. Sandby was born in Nottingham. It is not clear where he learned to paint and draw, but in 1741, he relocated to London to join his older brother, Thomas Sandby (1721 - 1798), at the Board of Ordnance at the Tower of London. By 1743, he earned an appointment as a private secretary and draughtsman for William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. He accompanied Cumberland on various military campaigns in the Scottish Highlands. Afterward, between 1747 and 1751, he worked as chief draftsman on the Military Survey of Scotland, conducted after the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He then retired to Windsor Great Park, where he was appointed Deputy Ranger (under Cumberland). Between his salary at the Board of Ordnance and as a deputy ranger, he was able to lead a leisurely, independent life dedicated to his art. He and his brother were among the 28 founding members of the Royal Academy. He died at his house in Paddington on November 7, 1809, and was buried in the burial ground of St George's, Hanover Square. In his obituaries, Sandby was described as the 'father of modern landscape paineting in watercolor.'   Further Details...

Peter Paul Benazech (c. 1730 - 1783) was a British painter and engraver. He was born in England, but his date of birth is disputed in biographies. It must have been about 1730, given that he became an apprentice to the French landscape engraver François Vivarès (1709 - 1780) in 1746. Later, he and Vivarès partnered and produced work in both London and Paris. His son, Charles Benazech (1767 - 1794), was also a historical artist. Benazech worked with drypoint, etching, and burin. He was primarily an interpreter, specializing in the reproduction of landscapes by masters of the previous century and the Rococo period, but also contemporary maps and topographies. However, his work also included genre scenes and ancient ruins of his own invention, inspired by Rome. His name, Benazech, suggests family origins in the Tarn region of France.   Further Details...

Thomas Jefferys (1695 - November 20, 1771) was one of the most prominent and prolific map publishers and engravers of his day. Jefferys was born in Birmingham and was apprenticed to the engraver Emmanuel Bowen in 1735. Later, in the 1740s he engraved several maps for the popular periodical Gentleman's Magazine. Around 1740 Jefferys was finally able to go into business for himself and in 1746 received an appointment as 'Geographer to Fredrick, Prince of Wales,' which shortly after translated to the position of 'Royal Cartographer to King George III.' Jefferys initially specialized in compiling and re-engraving the works of earlier cartographers into more coherent cartographic wholes. Later, while not salaried position, Jefferys' appointment as 'Royal Cartographer' guaranteed preferential access to the most up to date cartographic material available, allowing him to produce new and updated charts of exceptional accuracy. He his best known for his maps of the Americas, particularly the posthumously published 1775 American Atlas, which included some of the finest and most important late colonial era maps of America ever made. Despite his prolific publishing history, royal appointments, and international publishing fame, Jefferys lived most of his life in dire economic straits. He was bailed out of bankruptcy by Robert Sayer during the production of the American Atlas. In the end, Jefferys died suddenly with very little to his name. Nonetheless, his cartographic legacy survived, and even after his death in 1771, many of his important maps continued to be published and republished by Sayer and Bennet, Conrad Lotter, Georges Louis Le Rouge, Laurie and Whittle, and others. Many attribute some of Jefferys best maps to the colorful and criminally inclined Irish cartographic genius Braddock Mead (John Green, c. 1688 - 1757), who is considered the 'secret behind Jefferys.' Jefferys was succeeded by his son, also Thomas, who had little success as a cartographer and eventually partnered with, then sold his stock and plates to William Faden - Jefferys' true heir.   Further Details...

Source

Six Views of the Most Remarkable Places of the Gulf and River St. Laurence, (London: Thomas Jeffrys) 1760.    

Condition

Good. Laid down on Italian stock with decorative borders added via pastedown. Foxing.

References

OCLC 81405255, 497341825, 1544457156.