Lot #: 94694
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1627 SPEED, J. - The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (Title Page & Frontispiece Together)
The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (Title Page & Frontispiece Together) |
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Description
Offered here together are the titlepage and frontispiece from John Speed's 1627 edition of “Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine”, his monumental atlas of the British Isles. This was the earliest atlas of the British Isles, and the earliest world atlas by an Englishman.
TITLE PAGE: The highly decorative title page is based on the framework of an earlier Ortelius work, and includes, in a more ornate form, the allegorical figures of a Roman, a Britain, a Saxon, a Dane and a Norman - each representing the conquerors of Great Britain, each in their traditional costume.
The pillars, pedestals and columns are intricately decorated with cupids' heads, grotesques, herms, putti, coins, crests and other figures. The dominate figure above the title is an indigenous Briton, taken from an engraving that was first published by Theodor de Bry in 1590.
Fine vignettes of the City of London, and a ship are on the foundation. According to Shirley, this sheet may have been engraved by Renold Elstack, due to the stylistic similarities to other works he engraved for Speed. George Humble's imprint is at the bottom.
FRONTISPIECE: The magnificent coat of arms of James I dominate the heraldic frontispiece - "The Achievement Of Our Soveraigne King James As He Nowe Beareth With The Armes Of The Severall Kings That Have Aunciently Raigned Within His Nowe Dominions".
Around this central panel are 24 smaller shields of parts of the realm from ancient times, including shields denoting the Romans, Saxons and Normans, amongst others. The page is signed by Jodocus Hondius, the engraver, and is dated 1614.
John Speed (1552-1629) is the most famous of all English cartographers, primarily as a result of this “The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine”, the first atlas of the British Isles. The maps from this atlas are the best known and most sought-after of all English county maps. Speed spent over 15 years assembling material for his famous publication. He employed one of the most skilled Dutch engravers of his time, Jodocus Hondius.
Jodocus Hondius (1563–1612), The Elder, was a Flemish / Dutch engraver, and cartographer. He is best known for his early maps of the New World and Europe, for re-establishing the reputation of the work of Gerard Mercator. He helped establish Amsterdam as the center of cartography in Europe in the 17th century.
Reference: Shirley (TP) #32 & 33., Shirley, Courtiers And Cannibals, 33.
John Speed (1552-1629)
John Speed is probably the most famous English mapmaker. He was born in Cheshire in 1552. He lived in Moorfields in London with his wife Susanna who bore him twelve sons and six daughters. He became a freeman of the Merchant Taylors Company like his father. He followed his father’s trade as a tailor until about the age of fifty. From a young age he pursued his passion for history and cartography. He produced maps for the Queen and the Merchant Tailors Company. As a result of his joining the society of Antiquarians his mapmaking skills came to the attention of Sir Fulke Greville, who became his patron. Queen Elizabeth granted him the use of a room in the Custom House.His maps are distinctive and decorative and are filled with historical detail and heraldic devices. Speed was influenced by the earlier works of Saxton, Norden and others, however much of the up-to-date information especially relating to the town plan details drawn on his maps was his. He must have wasted little time in his preparatory work for the first individual maps. For his atlas, Theatre of the Empire of the Great Britain all Speed’s draft material was taken to Amsterdam, to be engraved by the talented Dutch engraver, Jodocus Hondius, the plates were then returned to London for printing.
In 1627, just before he died, Speed published A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World which became the first World Atlas produced by an Englishman.
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This item is available for immediate purchase when a "Add to Cart" or "Inquire Now" button is shown.
Items are sold in the EU margin scheme
Payments are accepted in Euros or US Dollars.
Authenticity Guarantee
We provide professional descriptions, condition report (based on 45 years experience in the map business)Paulus Swaen warrants the authenticity of our items and a certificate of authenticity is provided for each acquired lot.
Condition and Coloring
We indicate the condition of each item and use our unnique HiBCoR grading system in which four key items determine a map's value: Historical Importance, Beauty, Condition/Coloring and Rarity.
Color Key
We offer many maps in their original black and white condition. We do not systematically color-up maps to make them more sellable to the general public or buyer.
Copper engraved or wood block maps are always hand colored. Maps were initially colored for aesthetic reasons and to improve readability. Nowadays, it is becoming a challenge to find maps in their original colors and are therefor more valuable.
We use the following color keys in our catalog:
Original colors; mean that the colors have been applied around the time the map was issued.
Original o/l colors; means the map has only the borders colored at the time of publication.
Colored; If the colors are applied recently or at the end of the 20th century.
Read more about coloring of maps [+]
Shipping fee
A flat shipping fee of $ 30 is added to each shipment by DHL within Europe and North America. This covers : International Priority shipping, Packing and Insurance (up to the invoice amount).
Shipments to Asia are $ 40 and rest of the world $50
We charge only one shipping fee when you have been successful on multiple items or when you want to combine gallery and auction purchases.
Read more about invoicing and shipping
FAQ
Please have a look for more information about buying in the BuyNow gallery
Many answers are likely to find in the general help section.
My Collection+
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Unless you are logged in, the item is only saved for this session. You have to be registed and logged-in if you want to save this item permanently to My Collection+. Read More[+]
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