A scarce edition of Speed's map of County Durham

SPEED, John.

The Bishoprick and Citie of Durham.
London: Roger Rea, 1665. Coloured. 385 x 505mm.

One of the most famous maps of the county, engraved by Jodocus Hondius in 1610 and first published in Speed's county atlas, 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain' 1611-12. It is decorated with a large royal crest, a plan of the city of Durham and a vignette scene depicting the Battle of Nevill's Cross, between the English & Scots in 1346. On the reverse is a letterpress description of the county and a gazetteer.
This example comes from the Roger Rea issue, 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 : 23820