Thomas Young (fl1690)

All or some of the text on this page originally appeared in the Gallery of Benefactors

Bailie of Edinburgh

A bailie or magistrate of the city of Edinburgh, and probably a merchant as well, Thomas Young presented the the Tounis College in 1690 three portolan charts bound into a leather folder which commemorates the gift. The charts are drawn by Franciscus Oliva, one of a well-known family of Italian map-makers, in Marseille in 1650. They show the coastal waters, with navigational points, of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, and represent an important stage in the development of cartography.