Copper engraved map on hand laid paper with hand colouring.

John Speed (1552 - 1629) was a tailor by trade and a member of the Merchant Tailors Company in London.  He was a keen amateur historian and map maker and a member of the Society of Antiquaries. His book 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain' was published in 1610.  Speed composed the text, which was a history of Britain, and the maps.  Much of the material for the maps were taken from the work of Christopher Saxton and John Norden, but Speed added a considerable amount of additional information, particularly the inset town and city maps.  The maps were sent to Amsterdam to the workshop of Jodocus Hondius to be engraved. The book and the maps were reprinted many times over the following 100 years.  This map probably comes from the 1611 first edition.