Copperplate

County Antrim, Ulster - The Giant's Causeway. Picturesque Europe was a serialised partwork, designed as a showcase for steel and wood engravings after and by significant artists of the day. The 60 parts were published monthly from 1875 to 1880.When sets of parts were completed, they were also sold as complete volumes, building to a full 5-volume set, 2 volumes of which were devoted to the British Isles.This wood-cut print shows The Giant's Caseway, on the Antrim coast, noted for its rock formations of hexagonal, basalt columns. The site shares this geological peculiarity with Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa in the Scottish Hebrides, and the two are linked by legend. Finn MacCool was reutedly an Irish giant, who was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. Finn constructed a causeway across the Irish Sea so they could meet. This was subsequently destroyed, though its remains survive on the coasts at both ends. The legend was used for an epic 17th century poem by James Macpherson.