A Rock with a View: Re-examining a 1680s View of the Bass Island

Abstract

This chapter considers an image of the Bass Rock, a small island off the coast of East Lothian, Scotland. The image central to this chapter was produced in the 1680s, and is a view of the Bass apparently depicted from the East Lothian coast by draughtsmen and engravers Francis Place and Francis Barlow. Using cartographic material contemporary to the view alongside the historical context of this coastal region, this chapter elucidates perceptions of this topographic feature within a diachronic understanding of place. In turn, it investigates how such a study might affect perceptions of coastal imagery more generally, providing a detailed case study of the rich and layered qualities of such topographical images and what they may reveal about image-making practices during this period.