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John Speed
John Speede, Map of the County of Surrey, described and divided into hundreds

1650

$704.48
£520
€607.83
CA$972.28
A$1,089.17
CHF 567.56
MX$13,285.66
NOK 7,212.36
SEK 6,800.75
DKK 4,536.69

About the Item

To see our other views and maps of England - including London, Oxford and Cambridge, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the view you want. John Speed/Speede (1551/2-1629) The County of Surrey Described and Divided into Hundreds Engraving with later hand colouring and text to the reverse.  Dated to c.1650 36 x 49 cm Probably the most famous early English mapmaker, John Speed's early life is somewhat of an enigma. He is believed to have trained as a rolling-press printer, but he was at heart an historian granted a sinecure in the Customs House by Queen Elizabeth to indulge his passion, later becoming a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. His first maps were historical, of the Holy Land 'Canaan as it was Possessed both in Abraham and Israels Dayes' and of England and Ireland recording 'all their Civill Warres since the Conquest'. In 1611 he published his 'Hostory of Great Britaine' which he regarded as his magnum opus, but it was the companion atlas 'Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine' that - as the first printed atlas of Great Britain - sealed his reputation. William Rogers engraved the first map, 'the County Palatine of Chester' in about 1600, but following his untimely death the task of engraving was passed to Jodocus Hondius of Amsterdam. By 1612 the atlas was complete, the maps famed for their decorative elements. Many have town plans - Britain's first series of such plans - and descriptive text was printed to the reverse until the 1676 edition. Later printings (up until 1770) were issued without this text. By 1627 it has become a part of a world atlas 'Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World'. During the 17th century the plates passed through the hands of a series of publishers, the 1676 edition of Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell being regarded as its high point with the inclusion for the first time of a series of important maps. For the first half of the eighteenth century they were firmly established in the hands of the Overton family. This particular edition originally featured in The Theatre Of The Empire Of Great Britaine. It features attractive inset views of the long-since destroyed Richmond and Nonsuch Palaces, compass rose, scale of miles, coats of arms and decorative strapwork. Its hand colouring also lends a bright charm to this map, highlight the fields and adding vibrancy to the coats of arms.
  • Creator:
    John Speed (1552 - 1629)
  • Creation Year:
    1650
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.18 in (36 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Generally very good, glued to mount (sold with frame), few creases.
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU795315665272

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To see more, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller." Pieter van den Keere (1571 - circa 1646) after John Speed (1551 or 1552 - 1629) Map of Cambridgeshire Engraving 8 x 12 cm A beautifully coloured map of Cambridgeshire, with an antique description of the county to the reverse. The map, along with many others, was published in Speed's atlas, 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine', first published in 1611. This particular miniature edition of the 'Theatre' was published in miniature by George Humble in 1627, entitled 'England Wales Scotland and Ireland Described and Abridged With ye Historic Relation of things worthy memory from a farr larger Voulume. Done by John Speed.’ Speed's original map was likely engraved for this edition by Peter van den Keere. van den Keere's maps soon came to be known as "Miniature Speeds". John Speed was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian. The son of a citizen and Merchant Taylor in London, he rose from his family occupation to accept the task of drawing together and revising the histories, topographies and maps of the Kingdoms of Great Britain as an exposition of the union of their monarchies in the person of King James I and VI. He accomplished this with remarkable success, with the support and assistance of the leading antiquarian scholars of his generation. He drew upon and improved the shire maps of Christopher Saxton, John Norden and others, being the first to incorporate the hundred-boundaries into them, and he was the surveyor and originator of many of the town or city plans inset within them. His work helped to define early modern concepts of British national identity. His Biblical genealogies were also formally associated with the first edition of the King James Bible...
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