Scots Heroes O

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Heroes & Famous Scots (O)

Ogilby, John (1600-1676)

John Ogilby was a citizen of Scotland 's famous capital city, Edinburgh . He was a man of many talents including being a; Dance master, and a theatre proprietor, he was a student of Greek and Latin and was also a poet and translator. It is for none of these great talents however that we remember John Ogilby. He was renowned for his Road Atlas making, and was a pioneer in the field.

Many people over the centuries would be grateful to John for his pioneering exploits into the world of the mapmaker. He had been ridiculed in the past for his efforts at poetry and had been taken to task by no less people than John Dryden and Alexander Pope. We have to ask ourselves, ‘were these two English literary people jealous of what John Ogilby was producing'? They most certainly would not be pleased when John was asked to take responsibility for the poetic part of Charles II coronation, and by the King himself no less. After the Great Fire of London in 1666 John set up a printers shop in the city and called himself ‘ The Kings cosmographer and geographical printer' He went on to produce amazing pieces of work which would include; ‘ Britannia, a Geographical and Historical Description of the principal Roads Thereof' He was a great mapmaker and a good Scotsman.The picture is a copy of Johns maps.

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