Surrey  England  1676  by Speed

"Surrey Described and Divided into Hundreds", issued 1676, London by Bassett and Chiswell for Speed's monumental 17th century atlas "The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain.." Sheet size is 21 1/4" W x 16 3/8 " H, engraved area measures c. 20 " W x 15 1/8 " H. 

A very appealing 17th century map with Coats of Arms, and large inset views of Richmont & Nonsuch castles. Despite its proximity to the capital, the county of Surrey was actually somewhat remote from London. (London may be seen at top right). This sense of remoteness may be attributed to the physical barrier of the Thames, which forms its northern border and at the time could only be crossed in several places. As indicated by an absence of hills, the land immediately south of the Thames was mostly marshland and therefore not developed until the nineteenth century. Because the land was plentiful of game, however, the county of Surrey was favored for residence by monarchs and courtiers. Speed illustrates two of these residences: Henry VII's late gothic fantasy at Richmond (which became Elizabeth I's favorite residence) and Henry VIII's mannerist Nonsuch castle. Surrey was also known for its beautiful and diverse gardens, which visitors flocked to yearly; however, its absence in the 1600's of any town larger than a few thousand inhabitants prevented Surrey from becoming a truly prosperous county. Historians believe that one of the coat-of-arms was left blank (at lower right) because Speed intended it to be for the revered poet Henry Howard, who was executed for treason in 1547. 

CONDITION REPORT- (Please read carefully): 

This map has had expert paper restorations to both the side margins (to extend them and fill in a bit of engraved area loss near the coats of arms) and bottom corners. These restorations have been expertly done and do not detract visually - in fact, they blend in so well it will be easy to overlook them once the map is matted and framed. The corner replacement areas measure approximately 2"- 3" in a triangular sweep from the bottom corner in on each side. The margins have also been extended on both sides, the original map sheet ending at the original neatline except for a few areas where the loss extended a bit into the map area (perhaps 2-3 % of the whole surface). These repairs, while visible from the verso (front) are easy to miss and are most apparent from the recto (back) of the map. We have provided numerous close-up photos to try to clearly illustrate this so there is no mistaking it. 

Please email if you need further close-ups - We are happy to provide more photos on request. A great opportunity to own this famous and desirable 1676 Speed English county map for a fraction of its normal retail value. Overall visual effect once framed will be most pleasing. John Speed (1552-1629), historian and cartographer, is one of the most well known figures in the history of map-making. 

Famous for his county maps of England, Wales, and Irish regions, Speed primarily considered himself a historian and originally produced maps to visually supplement his text History of Great Britain. Indeed, his interest in regional history is quite apparent in his maps. Speed relied heavily on Norden and Saxon models for the geographical body of his maps and augmented them with informative text and illustrations. Town plans, coat-of-arms, and written descriptions of events such as battles are all common elements of Speed's maps. In this sense, his maps were not only a pleasure to look at but were also useful records of ascertained facts. Most of Speed's maps also have text on the reverse describing the depicted area. Because of the English publishing industry's limitations at the time, they are rarely found in original color. Indeed, this map has been expertly colored in a style appropriate to the period and greatly enhancing the visual appearance. 

Speed's atlas Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, which was immensely popular and continually reprinted since it first appeared around 1612, was the definitive text that established him as one of the leading British cartographers. 

The overall visual quality of the map is much nicer in person than the photos would suggest.

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