17th century English carte à figure map of Persia

SPEED, John.

The Kingdome of Persia with the cheef Citties and Habites described.
London: Roger Rea & Son, 1665. Coloured. 390 x 510mm.

A very fine example of this decorative map of Persia, engraved by Abraham Goos for John Speed's 'Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World', the first English atlas of the world. It is decorated with four city prospects (Isfahan, Ormus, Tabriz & Gilan) along the top and with eight costume vignettes down the sides. The Caspian Sea still has not been mapped properly: it is shown wider than it is tall.
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 : 24045