350-year-old first atlas of Scotland up for sale

A RARE illustrated copy of the first atlas of Scotland, published in Holland more than 350 years ago, is expected to fetch thousands of pounds at auction in Edinburgh tomorrow.
A rare illustrated copy of a 350-year-old atlas of Scotland is to go on sale. Picture: Saltire NewsA rare illustrated copy of a 350-year-old atlas of Scotland is to go on sale. Picture: Saltire News
A rare illustrated copy of a 350-year-old atlas of Scotland is to go on sale. Picture: Saltire News

The volume, containing 49 hand-coloured double page maps covering the whole of Scotland, and coats of arms coloured and highlighted in gold, was published by renowned Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in Amsterdam in 1662.

Blaeu used maps originally devised in minute detail by the Scottish cartographer Timothy Pont, and later revised after Pont’s death by Robert Gordon of Aberdeen under orders by James VI and later King Charles I.

Auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull’s believe it could sell for far beyond its £2,000-£3,000 estimated value.