Code: 48449
Author: John Speed
Publisher: Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell
Date published: 1676
Copper engraving, later hand colouring.Overall size : 54.8cms.x 42.9cms. Large strapwork title cartouche incorporating the Royal Arms and the Arms of Wales (which are still used by the present Prince of Wales when he is in Wales). Town plan of Cardigan within a strapwork carouche from which is suspended a compass rose with the Prince of Wales Feathers inset Scale of distance in cartouche at bottom of the map. Arms of Thomas Brudenel, Inset town plan of Cardigan. Three ships and two sea monsters. English text on verso listing the towns and with a description of the county. Highly decorative map in very good condition except for a 7mm x 25mm repair to the extreme top margin not touching the neatline. Until his late thirties, John Speed was a tailor by trade but his passion for history and map-making led him to gain a patron in Sir Fulke Greville, the poet and statesman, who found him a post in the customs and helped subsidize his map-making, giving him "full liberty to express the inclination of my mind"". He became aquainted with the publisher William Camden
