c1710


A highly decorative and finely engraved Map of HERTFORDSHIRE spelt HARTFORDSHIRE AS PER THE ORIGINAL AFTER A MALE  DEER - with heraldic shields and inset plan of HERTFORD AND VERULAMIUM ( St. ALBANS), published in John Speed's THEATRE OF THE EMPIRE OF GREAT BRITAIN and this example later published by Henry Overton. Measures 400 x 520 mm with early hand colouring. This example has the additions of some Roads, following Ogilby's survey in 1676 and note that the date after 'Anno' has been partially removed. The names of the previous publishers Basset and Chiswell have been struck through and Henry Overton has added his to lower right see photos 10 and 12.

 A VERY RARE EDITION BY OVERTON AMENDED AS SUCH SEE PHOTOS, SOLD AS LOOSE MAPS AS WELL AS IN THE THEATRE NO TEXT VERSO AS PUBLISHED, WITH VERY GOOD MARGINS

John Speed (1552-1629) was born in Cheshire and from his youth pursued his father's profession of tailoring. He later moved to London to continue this trade, though Speed's real passions lay elsewhere, namely in the fields of antiquity and cartography. He joined the Society of Antiquaries where his enthusiasm soon attracted the attention of notables such as William Camden and Sir Fulke Greville. In 1596, Greville provided Speed with a full time allowance to write a 'Historie of Great Britaine'. It was during this project that Speed decided to add a cartographic supplement to the work and it was from this that his famout atlas 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine' was born.
When initially published in 1611/12, his atlas was an immediate success, outdoing the one established by Christopher Saxon in 1579. There were a number of reasons for this; Speed's atlas showed each county separately with its hundreds, was decorated with heraldic shields but most significantly had one or two town plans. Displayed from a bird's eye view perspective, many of the towns were surveyed by Speed himself using a distinct "scale of paces' and are the earliest known plans of these places. The aesthetic beauty of the maps were also down to the Dutch engraver, Jodocus Hondius, whose fine calligraphy and decorative strap work are a feature throughout.

Will be sent rolled in a cardboard tube for protection,  hence postage cost REDUCED!