Worcestershire Described by John Speed

Code: 51987

Author: John Speed

Publisher: Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell

Date published: 1676

Copper engraving with later hand colouring. Overall size : 53.4cms.x 41cms. Image size : 505mm.x 380mm. Inset plan of Worcester, arms of the the Families that have borne the title of Worcester since the Conquest on the left side. Scales of distance at bottom left. English text to verso. Battle of Evesham with description. Slight overall toning, publishers crease to the left of centrefold, not obtrusive, else very good condition. 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