A scarce issue of John Speed's map of Hampshire

SPEED, John.

Hantshire described and devided.
London: Roger Rea & Son, 1665. Coloured. 375 x 505mm.

An important map of Hampshire, engraved by Jodocus Hondius for John Speed's county atlas, 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain', first published 1611-12. It is one of the most decorative maps of the county, with ornate cartouches for the title and scale, an inset plan of Winchester, the Royal Arms anf those of various of the Earls of Winchester and Southampton. On the reverse is an English-text description of the county and a gazetteer.

This example comes from the Roger Rea issue of the atlas, which was beset with disaster: according to an advert for the 1676 Bassett & Chiswell edition, ''the greatest part of an Impression, then newly Printed, [was] destroyed by the late dreadful Fire, 1666". Surviving examples of any Rea map are thus rare.


Stock ID : 24040