COLONEL BATTY’S VIEWS OF EUROPEAN CITIES.—NO. IV.
Edinburgh.
“The Queen of the North” has contributed five majestic views to Colonel Batty’s important Series. Each of them is engraved “in the first style of art,” as a prospectus would say, and there is no falling off in points of interest from the Parts of this work which have already been laudatorily noticed in the Mirror.
The Vignette of this Part is Edinburgh Castle, from the Grass Market, in which the fine old fortress is seen towering in all its picturesqueness and romantic beauty. Here and there it has some of the indistinctness of hoar antiquity: its fadings away are beautifully characteristic. The houses in the Grass Market are boldly contrasted with the Castle, and the “spirit” inscriptions on the Stablers are as distinct as the most panting soul could wish them. The Engraver is R. Brandard.
Edinburgh, from the Calton Hill, is the first view. This is, as observed in the letter-press, “the most comprehensive view of Edinburgh, and we may add, one of the grandest and most remarkable scenes in any city of Europe.” From this point of view, “both the New and Old Cities, with their communications, come at once under our observation; the neat and handsome modern edifices of the New Town on the right hand, contrast with the old grey piles of building on the left. The bold slopes of the Pentland hills bound the distance on the left, while the more gently indulated Corstorphine hills close the horizon on the right.” This description is correct in its shades. The murkiness and smoking chimneys of the Old Town are admirably relieved by the splendid vistas of Princes-street and the New Town. Upwards of twenty public buildings, most of them of great beauty, may be distinctly counted in this scene. It is engraved in the best style of Mr. George Cooke, one of the best view engravers of the day.
The Calton Hill forms the second plate, showing those splendid tributes of Scottish patriotism—the National Monument, Playfair’s Monument, and Nelson’s Monument. Would that we had some such site in or near our metropolis, whereon we might offer up our tributes to departed genius. What an honourable testimony of national gratitude is the monument to Nelson! and how emblematic of “the Modern Athens” are the fine classic columns of the National Monument. Playfair and the Observatory Entrance remind us of Scotland’s meteor-like pride in modern science; and the beetling brows of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags over the lower portion of the Old City in the valley below are well contrasted with these stately embellishments of art. The plate is well engraved by J.H. Kernot.
The New Royal High School, the third plate, is a superb building, and merits especial notice, in association with the intellectual character of the city. The Temple of Theseus, at Athens, has furnished models for its beautiful columns. “The Regent Road, forming the new and noble entrance to Edinburgh, serves as a terrace in its front.” Here again the indistinctness of the Old Town aids the fine effect of the new buildings. This plate is for the most part brilliantly executed by E. Goodall.
Edinburgh, from St. Anthony’s Chapel, is the fourth plate, and certainly not the least striking of the whole, although its chief merit is in the distance, which, for distinctness and delicacy, is admirable. Holyrood and its decaying Chapel, seen from this point, are beautifully made out, and the picturesque but massy form of the Castle fades away in the extreme distance. The foreground is bold and bright, but the distant details of the view are the charm of the picture. The engraver is W.I. Cooke. “The view of Edinburgh from this point will give a correct idea of the relative situations of the Castle and Calton Hill at opposite extremities of the city.”
Edinburgh from the ascent to Anthony’s Seat is the fifth plate. Here we scarcely know which to admire most, the beautiful work and etchy spirit of the mountainous foreground, the minuteness and delicacy of the distant city, or the actual brightness of the Firth of Forth broken by the “noble breast-work of Salisbury Crags and the point of the Cat’s nick.” The Crags, it will be recollected, are about 550 feet above the level of the Firth of Forth: a few sheep lie scattered about them, and the part of Arthur’s Seat on the left; the straggling pedestrians in the path to the Cat Nick are of emmet-like proportions. This plate is by W.R. Smith.
By the way, what a delightful Series will be these views of European cities for the walls of a cheerful breakfast parlour, or to alternate with well-filled cases of books. How pleasant it will be to sit in one’s arm-chair, and look around upon “the principal cities of Europe.” We say “for the walls,” since these Prints are too valuable to be hid in folios, or pasted in albums. Frame-work, we know, is an expensive affair; but Colonel Batty’s Views are worthy of oak and gold; and a good plan is to put them in one broad oak or maple frame, with gold moulding, dividing the views by bar-work. They will be then both elegant and intellectual furniture.