Ancient Scotland from the first regional atlas of Scotland published by Willem and Joan Blaeu in Amsterdam.


Along with John Speed's map, this is one of the iconic early maps of Scotland, geographically based on a first hand source. The maps from Blaeu's atlas were based on the surveys and manuscripts of Timothy Pont; these were in turn edited, augmented, revised and prepared for publication by Robert Gordon of Straloch, a noted Scottish scholar, politician and antiquary. In this group of surveys by Pont, Gordon also presented this map of Scotland during the classical period based on his own studies. A large part of the right border shows a map dedicated to the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In contrast to the majority of the maps in the atlas, Gordon signs his own name on the cartouche on the upper right.
Coloured. Dutch text on the reverse. Image available upon request. [SCOT1759]