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Nice full color example of Speed's map of Virginia and Maryland, which was engraved by Francis Lamb and first appeared in the enlarged edition of Speed's Atlas in 1676. The map is one of the first to incorporate the information from Augustine Hermann's exceedingly rare and important map, issued 3 years prior to the map's publication. Fascinating description of the Maryland and Virginia in English text on the verso. Wide margined example, in attractive full color. A bit toned overall, with an archivally repaired tear in the lower left corner, extending into and then across about a 4 inch section of the map (well repaired), and a bit of discoloration on the verso from a prior non-archival repair (which does not show on the front of the map).
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.
