Leicester by John Speed

Code: 54352

Date: 1676

Long title:Leicester both Countye and Citie described, The Honorable Famylies that have had the titles of Earls thereof with other accidents therein observed. Engraved by Jodocus Hondius.  Copper engraving with later hand colouring.    Overall sheet size: 54.3cms x 41.8cms.   Image size: 506mm x 378mm.   Town plan of Leicester with key to the 34 chiefe place of the Citie above; royal coat of arms and 8 coats of arms below a brief history of the Countie and adjacent to a depiction of the battle of Bosworth : the last battail betwixt the familyes of York and Lancaster was fought . A vignette of the Battle of Bosworth, a battle fought on 22 August 1485 between the Houses of York and Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses, appears at bottom right with a note describing the fighting and how King Richard III was slain and then “layd all neked upon an horse, and trussed like a hogge.” BLANK BACK so no show through .  Very attractively coloured and in excellent 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 acquainted with the publisher William Camden, whose descriptive text was used by Speed for most of the maps in his atlas “The Theatre of Empire of Great Britain” published most probably in 1612 although it bears the date 1611 on the main title page. The maps were engraved in Amsterdam by Jodocus Hondius, one of the foremost engravers of his time. Speed’s maps are unique historical documents of their time and the town plans featured on the maps are in most cases the first information we have of their early apppearance. Their artistry has guaranteed the collectability of these maps in the centuries that have followed.