A rare issue of Speed's map of Surrey

SPEED, John.

Surrey Described and Divided into Hundreds.
London: Roger Rea & Son, 1665. Coloured. 385 x 510mm.

One of the most decorative maps of Surrey, engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1610 for John Speed's county atlas, 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain', first published in 1611-12. Inset elevations of Richmond and Nonsuch Palaces, armorials, a compass rose and strapwork decorations add to its attractiveness. On the reverse is an English-text letterpress description of the county.
This example comes from the Roger Rea issue of the atlas, 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.
By 1627 the top left corner of the copper printing plate had been snapped off: in this example part of the printed border has been replaced with manuscript.


Stock ID : 24010