Shropshyre (Shropshire) FIRST EDITION

Code: 54913

waf.  Tape on verso all around the edge.   Old repair, top and bottom of centrefold repairing split bottom and small split top; stain in top left blank.  However a good stong impression of course and a very attractive map with town plan of Shrowsbury. Description of the battle of Olfeilde with vignette above bottom right.    Flaws reflected in price
Long title: Shropshyre described the Sittu Copper engraving with later but not recent  hand colouring.  Overall sheet size : 52.6cms.x 42.9cms. Image size: 508mm x 382mm.  Decorative cartouches containing county name and scale of distance at bottom left and right, respectively.  Plan of the town of Shrowesbury (Shrewsbury) with key underneath. Bottom right battle scene of Olfeilde and description thereof underneath.   English text to verso with index of places of interest and description of the county as usual. He describes it as ,’very fruitfull for life’ and ‘wholesome is the ayre, delectable and good ,yeelding the Spring and the Autumne, seed time and harvest, in a temperate condition and affordeth health to the Inhabitants in all seasons of the yeare’. He is full of praise for Shrowesburie, saying that it is ,’inferior to few of our Cities ‘ and that her ‘Citizens are rich’...fascinating reading.

Unfortunately, there are no surviving records of how many examples of the First Edition (or indeed of any edition) were printed. One might speculate that the First Edition could have numbered between about five hundred and one thousand examples. It should be remembered that market for maps was not well developed in England in 1612. This, together with the cost of the atlas, the need for a second edition soon afterwards, and the high quality of impressions from the third, Latin text, edition of 1616, suggests that the first print-run may have been closer to five hundred copies or so. Unfortunately, until an attempt is made at a census of surviving examples, these figures can be regarded as only the roughest of estimates. Ashley Baynton-Williams see  http://www.mapforum.com/02/speed.htm
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, 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.

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, 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.