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This map of Italy was created by the renowned English cartographer John Speed and published by George Humble in London. The map is notable for its rich decorative elements, including hand-colored "carte-a-figure" illustrations. The borders feature detailed views of significant Italian cities such as Verona, Naples, Venice, Rome, Genoa, and Florence. Additionally, the sides of the map are embellished with figures representing different Italian regions and their inhabitants, including the Pope, the Neapolitan, the Venetian, the Florentine, the Duke of Venice, the Romanes, the Milanese, and the Sienese.
The map itself provides an intricate and accurate representation of the Italian Peninsula, including surrounding seas such as the Ligurian Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the Gulf of Venice.
John Speed (1551 or '52 - 28 July 1629) was the best known English mapmaker of the Stuart period. Speed came to mapmaking late in life, producing his first maps in the 1590s and entering the trade in earnest when he was almost 60 years old.
John Speed's fame, which continues to this day, lies with two atlases, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (first published 1612), and the Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World (1627). While The Theatre ... started as solely a county atlas, it grew into an impressive world atlas with the inclusion of the Prospect in 1627. The plates for the atlas passed through many hands in the 17th century, and the book finally reached its apotheosis in 1676 when it was published by Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell, with a number of important maps added for the first time.
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