|
||
|
|
|
|
Striking map of Warwick, with with inset plans of Coventry and Warwick, from the rare Latin edition of Speed's early atlas of Great Britain.
Engraved by Jodocus Hondius. From Speed's The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, the Latin edition is arguably the rarest of all editions, being produced for the overseas market. Thomas Chubb states in his book, "The Latin edition of Speed's atlas of great Britain and Ireland is extremely rare, it was not until 1918 that the British Museum obtained a copy."
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.
![[France] Antiquorum Galliae Episcopatuum Geographica Descriptio . . . 1640](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/82032.jpg)
