Johann Baptist Homann, Regnum Scotiae in suas Partes
Johann Baptist Homann, Regnum Scotiae in suas Partes et subjacentes Insulas divisum, Nuremberg, c. 1710–1720
Copperplate engraved map with original hand colouring, approx. 49 x 58 cm (plate mark).
This detailed map of Scotland was issued by Johann Baptist Homann (1664–1724), imperial cartographer in Nuremberg and founder of the Homann map publishing house. It forms a northern counterpart to his map of England and Wales (Regnum Angliae), together forming a matched pair covering Great Britain.
The engraving presents the entirety of Scotland, carefully divided into shires and regions, with the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetlands also delineated. Coastal place names, rivers, and mountain ranges are shown with considerable precision, reflecting the improved geographic knowledge of Scotland circulating in European cartography of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
The ornate title cartouche at upper left is flanked by allegorical figures symbolising power, abundance, and learning, while the crowned royal arms of Great Britain—supported by the lion and unicorn—reinforce Scotland’s status within the union with England (1707).
The famous German 18th Century cartographer Johann Baptist Homann founded a mapmaking firm in Nuremberg in 1702. Upon his death in 1724, it passed to his son Johann Christoph (1703-1730). and later was managed by Johann Michael Franz and Johann Georg Ebersberger under the name Homann Heirs (Homann Erben).
