Hi Listers Below is an extract from todays Dundee Courier: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early maps to move to Perth AN IMPORTANT slice of Scotland's heritage has been secured for future generations through the vital conservation of a collection of early maps which will eventually be housed in in Perth. The world-famous collection held by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society is to be preserved and made more accessible to the public after a £160,000 Heritage Lottery Fund award, it was announced by Professor Bruce Proudfoot, of St Andrews University. Significant within the RSGS early map holdings is the Cuthbert Collection, gifted to the society in 2000 by the widow of the late William Cuthbert, a well-known Perth solicitor. This stunning collection consists of 300 maps spanning 400 years, depicting both Scotland and overseas. William Cuthbert collected maps portraying both the whole of Scotland and a number of the old Scottish counties and regions. The earliest item is a curious map depicting Scotland at a 90-degree angle to England and Wales, published in 1573 in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, or world atlas, of Flemish mapmaker Abraham Ortelius. Perhaps the finest "gem" in the Cuthbert Collection is a large, beautifully wrought, detailed plan of Perth, produced by William MacFarlane in 1792, and engraved by James Kirkwood, of the well-known Edinburgh family of engravers. Colin McLean, the Heritage Lottery Fund manager for Scotland, said, "Maps such as these are central to the story and identity of Scotland, revealing much about the geography of our history but also about the politics, culture and artistic skills of the time." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can access this article, and thus the Couriers web-site, at : http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2006/10/25/newsstory8894754t0.asp Regards Les