A rare issue of John Speed's famous map of Cornwall

SPEED, John.

Cornwall. Theise Mappes are to be solde by Roger Rea the Elder and younger at the Golden Crosse in Cornhill against the Exchange 1662.
London, Roger Rea, c1665. Coloured. 380 x 500mm.

Some minor restoration.

Engraved by Jodocus Hondius, this is one of the most decorative maps of the county: a large Royal crest, 8 armorials, a prospect of Launceston, four antiquities and galleons and sea-monsters fill the space around the peninsula. The English text on verso gives a history of the county and an extensive list of towns and villages.
Despite the engraved date of 1662 it is though the Rea edition was not printed until 1665. Then disaster struck: 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 : 21521