Ainslie's Environs of Edinburgh

This map of the environs of Edinburgh was published a decade before Ainslie’s landmark nine sheet map of Scotland. Originally published in 1778, the term ‘environs’ was substituted for ‘country round’ in 1779. 

The last digit (only) of the date has been burnished from the plate, suggesting that our example was issued after the change in title but before the number 9 was added. 

The map is dedicated to the right honourable James Stewart Mackenzie (1718-1800), Lord Privy Seal of Scotland, politician, astronomer and joint founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 

John Ainslie (1745-1828) was a significant surveyor, engraver and mapseller in Scottish Enlightenment Edinburgh.

Condition & Materials

Copper engraving, printed area measurement 59 x 60 cm, original hand colour, minor wear to old folds, blank verso; map extracted from an old frame, where it had been mounted using masking tape: marginal tape residue visible, and some toning within the former area of the mount window.

References 

OCLC: 557232445 (British Library); OCLC: 316372960 (NLS); OCLC: 1113198961 (Edinburgh University, dated 1779).