[Rarebooks] fa: MAP OF EDINBURGH from HOLINSHED'S CHRONICLES - 1577

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Monday, March 21. More details and images  
can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name  
arch_in_la.

http://shop.ebay.com/arch_in_la/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562

Many thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.

Scarce WOODCUT PLAN OF "EDINBURG" from the Chronicles of England,  
Scotlande, and Irelande by Raphael Holinshed, London: 1577. Measuring  
40 x 28 cm (15 3/4 x 11 in); partially laid down on linen, but with  
the text on the reverse visible; wrinkles and creasing, darkened at  
the center and edges, two short, closed horizontal tears (less than  
1") at the center fold, a few small chips at the edges.

Published in the nineteenth year of Elizabeth I's reign, the map  
depicts the "Lang [Long] Siege" of Edinburgh Castle, during which the  
garrison, loyal to Mary Queen of Scots, held out against forces loyal  
to James VI, eventually capitulating after the arrival of artillery  
and 1000 troops dispatched by Elizabeth. The letterpress on the  
reverse lists  the "Gentlemen, Captaines and Artillerie" involved in  
the "siege and wynning of Edenburgh Castell, Anno. 1573." Shakespeare  
relied heavily on Holinshed's Chronicles in the writing of his history  
plays, and the volume relating to Scotland, from which this map  
derives, was a primary source for Macbeth. The only large "plate" in  
the Chronicles, the map was often removed from the volume, as happened  
here (not by us!), the result being that otherwise complete sets of  
the work are commonly described as "lacking the plan of Edinburgh."