Germany from the first English atlas of the World

SPEED, John.

A New Mape of Germany newly Augmented by John Speed Ano. Dom: 1626.
London: Roger Rea & Son, 1665. Coloured. 400 x 520mm.

A very decorative map of central Europe, focussed on Germany but also showing Switzerland, Bohemia, Austria and western Poland. It was published in John Speed's atlas, 'A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World', the first world atlas published in England. There are ten costume vignettes down the sides and eight city prospects, including Cologne, Augsburg, Strasburg, Vienna and Prague, along the top.
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 : 23993