Correct Survey of Dublin, As It Stood in the Year 1610 Possibly 1792

Editor: Here we have James Malton’s "Correct Survey of Dublin, As It Stood in the Year 1610," an etching on paper possibly from 1792. I find it fascinating how the city is meticulously mapped out, yet there's a certain looseness to the linework. What do you make of it? Curator: I'm interested in the 'survey' itself as a constructed object. The etching process – the labor involved in transferring the design, the physical act of printing – those are key. The very *idea* of accurately capturing Dublin in 1610, printed almost two centuries later, raises questions about access, about who is consuming this image, and for what purpose. What social forces are at play here? Editor: So, less about the geographical accuracy and more about the statement of creating the piece in the first place? Curator: Precisely. Consider the materials. Paper, ink, the etching plate – where did they come from? What were the conditions of their production? This print exists within a web of material and economic relations, reflecting power structures of the time. Think about the artist making something ‘correct’; what did that mean? How can art like this be both beautiful and functional? Editor: That definitely makes me think differently about it! I was caught up in imagining old Dublin, but now I am drawn into how something like an etching gives a view into material economies. Curator: Yes, the layers of labor and the value of this artistic and printing practice are really telling. Editor: So interesting. I hadn’t thought about maps in this way before – more than just historical documents. Thanks for that.