An uncommon edition of Speed's county map of Shropshire

SPEED, John.

Shropshyre Described. The Sittuation of Shrowsesbury Shewed With the Armes of thos Earles, and other Memorable things observed.
London: Roger Rea, 1665. Coloured. 390 x 515mm.

John Speed's famous map of Shropshire, engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1610 and first published in his county atlas, 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain', in 1611-12. It is decorated with a large frame containing the Royal arms, the arms of Roger Montgomery & John Talbot and a compass rose; a plan of Shrewsbury with an extensive key; and a vignette of the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, between Henry IV and Sir Henry Percy (Harry Hotspur).
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.


Stock ID : 23832