THE ISLANDS OF ORKNEY, 1693.

By Captain Greenvile Collins

This reproduction is taken from an original document, held within the Archives of the UK Hydrographic Office, Taunton, Somerset.

Until the late 17th century, British mariners had to depend on the work of Dutch surveyors and cartographers, when navigating in home waters. However, in June 1681, Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Navy, issued an Admiralty order, assigning a naval officer, Captain Greenvile Collins, to the task of surveying the British coasts and harbours. With a measuring chain, a compass and a leadline, Collins took seven years to complete the work which was eventually published as Great Britain's Coasting Pilot in 1693. It contained forty eight harbour and coastal charts including the Islands of Orkney. Although compared unfavourably with other contemporary atlases, the Great Britain's Coasting Pilot met the needs of British seamen, and more than a dozen editions were published during the 18th century. Despite many inaccuracies, the work is a landmark in British Hydrography, being the first complete Pilot-book of the entire British coast.

This attractive chart of Orkney is dedicated to His Royal Highness George, Prince of Denmark and the decorative cartouche features a merman holding a flag depicting his royal cypher.