Collins, Greenvile
1750

Antique nautical chart of the Orkney Islands

The Chief Harbours in the Islands of Orkney are most humbly presented and dedicated to Capt. Will Bond by Capt. Greenvile Collins Hydrogr[apher] to the King.

DESCRIPTION: Antique sea chart of the North Sea, the Orkney Islands, Wide Firth, Hoy Sound and Deer Sound. The islands shown on this scarce, old British chart include parts of the Mainland ("Pomona"), Shapinsay, Gairsay, Wyre, Egilsay, and Rousay. With 5 coastal elevation views including: Copinsha to Mulhead; Faire Isle; the Maiden Papps of of Carness; Dunkins Bay Head.

Title cartouche on this decorative chart of the Orkneys is held up by a pair of fierce sea eagles clutching a rag between their beaks.

Sea eagles have a long history in Orkney. The Bronze Age burial tomb at Isbister, South Ronaldsay (the ‘Tomb of the Eagles’) famously contains their bones, while a Pictish symbol stone found at the Knowe of Burrian, Harray, features a beautifully carved bird.

Sea eagles became extinct across the UK in the early 19th century due to combination of widespread habitat loss and human persecution, with the last bird shot in Shetland in 1918. (Sea Eagles Nest in Orkney after 142-year Absence". Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Internet. June 19, 2015)

Date in the title cartouche was largely erased from the copper engraving plate but remains faintly visible as 1688. This sheet is probably a later edition (estimated 1750), explaining the erasure. From one of the many editions of Greenville Collin's 'Great Britain's Coasting Pilot', published from 1693 to 1792.

CREATOR: Collins, Greenvile

PUBLICATION DATE: 1750

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: Scotland

BODY OF WATER: North Sea

CONDITION: Good Heavy strong paper. Uniform age toning and light staining but should frame nicely. Wide margins. Traces of old tape on verso.

COLORING: Old hand coloring.

ENGRAVER:

SIZE: 22 " x 17 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 57

PRICE: $550

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