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| Keywords: 1768 James Craig Map of New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland (First Plan of New Town) - Geographicus - Edinburgh-craig-1768.jpg Drafted for the city planning committee in 1768 by James Craig this is the definitive plan of Edinburgh Scotland ™s New Town Oriented to the North this plan details the streets of Edinburgh north of the Loch Nor today the Prince ™s Street Gardens between St George ™s Square modern day Charlotte Square and St Andrews Square A dedication to King George the III illustrates the lower part of the map An elaborate title cartouche decorates the lower left hand quadrant Thompson ™s poem appears in a secondary cartouche at the top center In 1766 the City Fathers of Edinburgh lead by Lord Provost George Drummond instituted a plan to extend the city ™s border to encompass the field ™s north of the Nor Loch The plan intended to modernize the city and ease the crowded conditions of the old Royal Burgh was turned into a competition James Craig an Edinburgh native having around this time just completed his apprenticeship as a mason found the he had a fine hand for drafting Inspired by his uncle James Thomson ™s well known poem Liberty August around what Public Works I see Lo ™ stately Streets lo ™ Squares that Court the breeze See ™ long Canals and deepened Rivers join Eash part with each and with the circling Main The whole enlivened Isle ¦ Craig submitted this plan Though conservative in its vision Craig ™s plan won the city ™s design contest and he was awarded with the Freedom of the City in 1767 Sadly the Lord Provost George Drummond who instituted the contest died before his dream of expanding the city was realized It was left to his successor the Lord Provost Gilbert Laurie who is named on this map to realize Craig ™s plan Today the streets are laid out much as Craig envisioned them with broad east “west avenues separating housing blocks bisected by smaller mews Drawn by James Craig and engraved by P Begbie in 1768 When this plan was printed in 1768 only 500 were issued With such a small printing run as an independently issued map we can safely assume that very few examples other than the one you see here have survived to this day Only one recorded example of this map has appeared at auction in the last 30 years Dated and copyrighted Published according to Act of Parliament Jan 1st 1768 1768 dated Size in 26 18 object history credit line accession number Edinburgh-craig-1768 Geographicus-source PD-Art-100 1768 maps Old maps of Edinburgh Maps in English New Town of Edinburgh James Craig architect | ||||
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