Alexander Edward's European Tour, 1701-02

In 1701, the landscape designer, former Episcopalian minister and Jacobite spy was commissioned by a group of Scottish (mainly Jacobite) aristocracy to undertake a journey to England, the Low Countries and France. The purpose was to acquire materials and additional knowledge to help Scottish patrons to develop their country houses and gardens. This chapter explores in detail Edward's activities on this trip, revealing its political, as well as its antiquarian and architectural significance. From the surviving archival records, it is clear that Edward's activities involved special access to royal collections at Versailles and resulted in the biggest single influx of (mainly) French architectural prints and drawings onto Scotland and had a significant impact on early Scottish classical architecture and formal garden design.