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Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain. London: to be sold by George Humble [William Humble] 1627 [1646] [with:] A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. London: printed by John Legatt, for William Humble, 1646.
Details
SPEED, John (1552-1629)
Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain. London: to be sold by George Humble [William Humble] 1627 [1646] [with:] A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. London: printed by John Legatt, for William Humble, 1646.
Scarce edition of Speed’s influential British and World atlases, with intriguing provenance from an unidentified early Irish owner. John Speed’s enduring fame lies with the present two atlases, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (first published 1612), and the Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World (first published in 1627), which were typically issued as an ensemble, as here. Together they contain 89 maps, including a double-hemisphere map of the world, maps of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America (showing California as an island), the counties of the British Isles, as well as maps of Hungary, Persia, China, Bermuda and various other nations.
A note on the front pastedown records the volume’s purchase from the publisher William Humble on 9 June 1647, giving the prices for the unbound sheets as £2.15.0, and for gathering and binding as £0-8-0. More intriguingly, an additional manuscript leaf inserted before the first work is titled ‘An Index of the severall Manuscript Charts to be placed in this Booke, wherein is showne the differences and in some the manifest Errors either of ye Printer or of ye Geographer’. This lists 34 maps which the owner asks his binder, ‘Monsr [?]Pirenne’, to add to the present volume, noting that he finds his binding ‘strong enough to have these fastened […] without altering ye cover’. Of these 34 maps, 11 are marked with a manicule which, according to the key provided, ‘notes my owne observations by instrument’. These include maps of the Somer Islands [Bermuda], Bristol, and a ‘Description of the Harbors of Kinsale, Cork & Yoghall’. Evidently a sophisticated cartographer, the owner has not yet been identified, but signs his instructions to the binder with the initials ‘W D’ and gives his location and the date as ‘Kinsale 28 Sept 1649’. Theatre: Shirley T.SPE-1g; Skelton 36 & Prospect: Shirley T.SPE-2C.
2 works in one volume, folio (416 x 295mm). Theatre with engraved title, plate of the arms of the kingdoms, and 67 double-page engraved maps of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; Prospect with letterpress title and 22 double-page engraved maps, including ‘The Invasions of England and Ireland’ here bound in the Theatre; manuscript index leaf listing 34 additional manuscript maps with instructions to the binder for their placement throughout the volume [these additional maps not present] (a few short closed repairs tears, chip into printed area at left side of ‘The Kingdom of England’ with vertical repair on verso, some creasing to maps in gutter, a few maps just trimmed to the plate edge). Contemporary panelled calf, possibly Irish (rebacked and recorned in 1890, rubbed). Provenance: ‘W D’ of Kinsale, Ireland (instructions to the binder dated 28 September 1649) – Liverpool Athenaeum (received in 1847; discreet ink stamps on maps).
Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain. London: to be sold by George Humble [William Humble] 1627 [1646] [with:] A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. London: printed by John Legatt, for William Humble, 1646.
Scarce edition of Speed’s influential British and World atlases, with intriguing provenance from an unidentified early Irish owner. John Speed’s enduring fame lies with the present two atlases, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (first published 1612), and the Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World (first published in 1627), which were typically issued as an ensemble, as here. Together they contain 89 maps, including a double-hemisphere map of the world, maps of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America (showing California as an island), the counties of the British Isles, as well as maps of Hungary, Persia, China, Bermuda and various other nations.
A note on the front pastedown records the volume’s purchase from the publisher William Humble on 9 June 1647, giving the prices for the unbound sheets as £2.15.0, and for gathering and binding as £0-8-0. More intriguingly, an additional manuscript leaf inserted before the first work is titled ‘An Index of the severall Manuscript Charts to be placed in this Booke, wherein is showne the differences and in some the manifest Errors either of ye Printer or of ye Geographer’. This lists 34 maps which the owner asks his binder, ‘Monsr [?]Pirenne’, to add to the present volume, noting that he finds his binding ‘strong enough to have these fastened […] without altering ye cover’. Of these 34 maps, 11 are marked with a manicule which, according to the key provided, ‘notes my owne observations by instrument’. These include maps of the Somer Islands [Bermuda], Bristol, and a ‘Description of the Harbors of Kinsale, Cork & Yoghall’. Evidently a sophisticated cartographer, the owner has not yet been identified, but signs his instructions to the binder with the initials ‘W D’ and gives his location and the date as ‘Kinsale 28 Sept 1649’. Theatre: Shirley T.SPE-1g; Skelton 36 & Prospect: Shirley T.SPE-2C.
2 works in one volume, folio (416 x 295mm). Theatre with engraved title, plate of the arms of the kingdoms, and 67 double-page engraved maps of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland; Prospect with letterpress title and 22 double-page engraved maps, including ‘The Invasions of England and Ireland’ here bound in the Theatre; manuscript index leaf listing 34 additional manuscript maps with instructions to the binder for their placement throughout the volume [these additional maps not present] (a few short closed repairs tears, chip into printed area at left side of ‘The Kingdom of England’ with vertical repair on verso, some creasing to maps in gutter, a few maps just trimmed to the plate edge). Contemporary panelled calf, possibly Irish (rebacked and recorned in 1890, rubbed). Provenance: ‘W D’ of Kinsale, Ireland (instructions to the binder dated 28 September 1649) – Liverpool Athenaeum (received in 1847; discreet ink stamps on maps).
Brought to you by
Eugenio Donadoni
Senior Specialist, Medieval & Renaissance Manuscripts