Edinburgh from Calton Hill, Antique Engraving after Birket Foster, circa 1876
€ 360
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
circa 1876
Mapmaker / artist
Birket Foster (artist), T. Heawood (engraver)
Publisher
Cassell, Petter & Galpin, London
Technique
Steel engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13194-74
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light age toning; light handling soiling along the edges and a few small spots in the margins. Printed image clean.
About this sheet
A sweeping panorama of Edinburgh seen from the slopes of Calton Hill. The eye travels from a few figures resting on a wall in the right foreground, down over castellated buildings and rooftops, to the long straight line of Princes Street running off at right, busy with carriages and pedestrians. In the distance the Castle crowns its rock against a sky of luminous cloud, with church spires, a tall obelisk and the Gothic spire of the Scott Monument rising across the city.
The view is full of detail and atmosphere: chimney smoke drifts over the Old Town at left, a bridge spans the valley, and the domes and porticoes of the New Town catch the light.
Calton Hill has long been the classic viewpoint over the Scottish capital, taking in both the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town. The plate is lettered "Edinburgh, from Calton Hill" and credits the painter Birket Foster, the much-loved Victorian illustrator of landscape, and the engraver T. Heawood. The imprint is that of Cassell, Petter & Galpin of London, the house that published it.
This is a steel engraving of exceptional density. The engraver has rendered hundreds of windows, roofs and tiny figures with a fine, precise line, while the sky is laid in soft tones that give the whole city a hazy, sunlit depth.
A natural gift for anyone with ties to Edinburgh, this view looks well in a dark wood frame over a desk or in a library.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
