Original Print - Magnificent Panorama of Edinburgh
[SLEZER, JOHN]. The North Prospect of the City of Edenburgh. To her most sacred Majesty Queen Anne, this prospect of her ancient city of Edenburgh, the metropolis of North Britain is humbly dedicated and devoted by her Majesty's most dutiful and most obedient subject and servant. [London, c. 1720], 110 x 46 cm.
An original print, frame and glazed (132 x 69 cm), un-colored, neat single fold reinforcement, else near fine. A splendid example of this scarce, sweeping panorama of Edinburgh. The view appeared in Slezer’s Theatrum Scotiae beginning with the 1719 edition, and among the many beautiful images from that book, this one is the most ambitious and desirable. “The prospects of various Scottish towns etched and engraved by J. Slezer are among the most interesting and informative of early topographical prints. The view of Edinburgh from the north… is a notable example” (Russell). This work is often referred to as the “Queen Anne View,” because of the bold dedication to the Queen at the bottom of the engraving. Edinburgh Castle appears on a promontory to the right, and Holyrood Palace appears to the left. Many of the buildings on the view, including Queensberry House, Canongate Church and the Canongate Tolbooth, survive today.
