In the absence of any defense by Paul Revere, and in the presence of
the better engraving made along the lines and with the same general
arrangement as that claimed by Revere, it would seem that we must
convict the latter of the plagiarism with which Pelham charged him.
Some of the latter’s prints were issued, since among his papers is the
charge in March, 1770, of three pounds nine shillings by one Daniel
Rea “To printing 575 of your Prints @ 12| Pr. Hund.” Pelham was a much
abler artist than Revere; moreover, it should be noted that the latter
prints upon his engraving only the words, “engraved, printed, and sold
by Paul Revere,” all of which might have been the literal truth, had
he utilized the design of the younger artist. None the less his
appropriation without compensation of his young neighbor’s design is
much to his discredit, and detracts from the interest and enjoyment
with which we examine this most famous and interesting of Paul
Revere’s engravings.
The vogue for this picture of the massacre has been very great from
the time of its first printing until the present. We have seen how
many editions appeared in 1770. These spread rapidly throughout all
the English colonies in America. So popular did the prints become that
as early as 1785 a new edition became necessary, while the original
prints were much in demand, and formed part of early collections of
Americana. Originals of 1770 are now so highly prized that single
copies sell for anywhere from $750 to $1,000. In 1832 an excellent
reproduction was issued, which has in its turn become rare enough to
command $50 upon the market.
How much the publication of the original prints had to do with the
profound sensation that the “Boston Massacre” awakened everywhere
among the American colonies we have no means of judging. Certainly the
representation was calculated to arouse intense resentment against the
British soldiery, and this feeling may have contributed to the
alacrity with which the colonists took up arms in defense of their
liberty. From a trivial encounter between imperial troops and the
Boston mob, the incident arose to a position of international
importance. Its pictorial presentation, therefore, has become a part
of our national history.