Early maps of Scotland before the 1850s This guide gives a brief
summary of some of the types of maps produced from the late 16th
to mid-19th centuries. Most are available for consultation in
the Map Library. For a list of printed maps (with a few
manuscript maps) see The Early Maps of Scotland to 1850, ed. D G
Moir. 2 vols. Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Geographical Society,
1973, 1983. Volume 1 summarises the mapping history of Scotland,
with reproductions of a few important maps, then lists
(chronologically) maps depicting the whole of Scotland. Volume 2
is particularly useful for local and family historians, with
lists of maps of parts of Scotland and thematic maps, such as
county maps, town plans, road, rail and canal maps, and marine
charts. Early printed maps do not usually give much detail,
until large scale Ordnance Survey maps were published, from
about 1850. The first known printed map of Scotland on its own
was engraved and printed in Italy, probably by Paolo Forlani,
who was working in the 1560s and