CARTOUCHE: Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. 

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): "To the west of the city a mountain with a tall cliff rises up, upon which stands a castle, which is extremely secure due to its natural setting. On the side of the city to the east lies a majestic monastery to the Holy Cross, alongside it a royal palace set within an exceedingly charming garden. There are two large streets in this city, one that is paved with ashlar stone, leading from the Maidens' Castle to the monastery and to the royal palace, and the other is the highway. From the highway running from north to south countless smaller roads branch off, all of which are lined with very tall buildings." 

Edinburgh is shown in plan view from the south, in the foreground are two figures wearing the typical style of dress of the nobility during the time of Mary, Queen of Scots. Perched atop the Castle Rock is Edinburgh Castle, indicated here as Castrum puellarum, or "Maidens' Castle". The origins of this designation are not known. According to one legend it can be traced back to a tradition among the Picts of holding virgins captive in the castle. Other sources refer to a legend claiming that princesses were able to live there in safety. It is also the place where King Malcolm III's widow, later St Margaret of Scotland, allegedly resided in the 11th century. The upper, horizontal thoroughfare, the High Street (later called the Royal Mile), which leads from the Castle Rock via the Gothic church of St Giles and the town gate in the east to Holyrood abbey, can readily be identified. The guesthouse of the abbey was transformed in the 16th century into the official residence of the British Monarchy in Scotland, the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Due to a burgeoning population Edinburgh's buildings had as many as 12 floors. Contemporary accounts tell of the miserable hygienic conditions that prevailed there and the resulting spread of disease. Around 1550 the town had 15,000 inhabitants; today 435,000 people live in Scotland's capital. 

The engraving was made after a woodcut by Raphael Holinshead, 1574. (Taschen)

Braun G. & Hogenberg F. and the Civitates Orbis Terrarum.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum, or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully coloured. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. Many of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572 and the sixth in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel made those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographers Daniel Freese and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Following the original publication of Volume 1 of the Civitates in 1572, seven further editions of 1575, 1577, 1582, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1612 can be identified. Vol.2, first issued in 1575, was followed by further editions in 1597 and 1612. The next volumes appeared in 1581, 1588, 1593, 1599 and 1606. The German translation of the first volume appeared from 1574 on, and the French edition from 1575 on.

Several printers were involved: Theodor Graminaeus, Heinrich von Aich, Gottfried von Kempen, Johannis Sinniger, Bertram Buchholtz and Peter von Brachel, who all worked in Cologne.

Georg Braun (1541-1622)

Georg Braun was born in Cologne in 1541. After his studies in Cologne, he entered the Jesuit Order as a novice. In 1561, he obtained his bachelor's degree and in 1562 his Magister Artium. Although he left the Jesuit Order, he studied theology, gaining a licentiate in theology.

Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590)

Frans Hogenberg was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. He was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg.

By the end of the 1560s, Frans Hogenberg was employed upon Abraham Ortelius's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570; he is named an engraver of numerous maps. In 1568, he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva and travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He immediately embarked on his two most important works, the Civitates, published in 1572 and the Geschichtsblätter, which appeared in several series from 1569 until about 1587.

Thanks to large-scale projects like the Geschichtsblätter and the Civitates, Hogenberg's social circumstances improved with each passing year. He died as a wealthy man in Cologne in 1590.