Henry Pelham, Boston Massacre - Little wonder that the novelist Esther Forbes found the story told in Pelham’s engraving of the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770, to be a compelling source when writing about Revolutionary Boston. The colonists (at left) are fired upon by eight soldiers of the British regiments armed with rifles topped with bayonets. At right with raised sword is the British commander, Captain Preston. It is a scene of confusion with wounded figures on the ground, two men assisting another wounded man, two men fleeing the scene—and a dog. Framing the King Street scene are the Custom House, with its balcony; the State House, with a clock and balcony; and the First Church with its clock and cupola. The text in the image at the foot of the page is taken from Psalm 94. Henry Pelham, Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston, on March 5th, 1770. Brigham pl. 13. Revere Collection, Box 7. [See entire digitized collection here.]
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The Amerian Antiquarian Society, 1812-2012 - A View at the Bicentennial