Speed’s famous map of the Saxon Heptarchy

A fine example of the most famous printed map of the British Isles, engraved by Jodocus Hondius and first published in Speed's 'Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain' in 1611. England is shown divided into the seven Saxon kingdoms, with the kingdoms of the Scots, Picts and Welsh also marked. Flanking the map are two columns of vignettes: on the left can be seen the first king of each Saxon region; on the right the conversions of their successors to Christianity, persuaded by discussion, preaching, visions and violence. The English text on verso gives an outline of the history. Speed's map was influential, copied by both Blaeu and Jansson for their atlases of the British Isles. 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.