17th century English carte à figure map of Europe

A classic decorative map of Europe, engraved by Abraham Goos for John Speed's 'Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World', the first English atlas of the world, first published 1627. Along the top of the map are eight city prospects: London, Paris, Rose, Constantinople, Venice, Prague, Amsterdam and Lisbon. Down the sides are ten costume vignettes. This example comes from the Roger Rea issue, which was beset with disaster. According to an advert for the 1676 Bassett & Chiswell edition, ''the greatest part of an Impression, then newly Printed, [was] destroyed by the late dreadful Fire, 1666". Surviving examples of any Rea map are thus rare.