Of Bricks & Light: Grand Vistas

Unidentified photographer (Scotland): Edinburgh from Calton Hill. Calotype, circa 1845

One of a pair of mysterious calotypes bearing the blindstamp of Edinburgh printseller William MacGill, who appears in city directories as early as 1841-2. This image was probably made after 1844, when the Queen Victoria statue was erected. The landscaping around the Scott Monument is not complete, and seems similar to that shown in a Hill and Adamson calotype of 1844-5.