Born in Farndon, Cheshire, England circa 1552, John Speed is one of the most well-known English mapmakers. While he worked his father's prosperous trade as a tailor, he developed interests in history, antiquities, and genealogy. He married Susanna Draper in 1575, by whom he had eighteen children. Speed published his first map in 1595, a four-sheet wall map of biblical Canaan. His interests in cartography, writing, and history eventually found expression under the patronage of Sir Fulke Greville, helping him acquire a position in the customs service in 1598. In this new role, he was able to travel the country and indulge his personal passion for mapmaking.
The maps he produced, which superseded but drew heavily upon those of Christopher Saxton and John Norden, were intended to illustrate the history of Britain. Speed’s 1611 atlas, the Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, is one of the most important cartographic works ever created in England. All of the counties of England & Wales are included. Descriptive text on the back of each map relates the important features of each county, based on William Camden's research. Innovative features included the distinction of parish hundreds and inset town plans of the major cities. Speed claimed to have personally surveyed all of the towns which have the phrase, "The Scale of Pases" below the plan. The Theatre was also noted for its inclusion of maps of Scotland and Ireland.
The copper plates were engraved by Jodocus Hondius Sr, who later returned to Amsterdam to take over Gerard Mercator's business in 1604. The immediate and enduring popularity of the Theatre meant that it was reissued nine times between 1614 and 1676. Indeed, one London publisher, Cluer Dicey, was still issuing maps from the original plates as late as 1770, one hundred and fifty years after their creation. In 1605 and 1608, King James I commissioned Speed for two maps, and the mapmaker was granted a coat of arms in 1606.
In 1627, George Humble, who was then sole proprietor following the retirement of his uncle, published John Speed’s The Prospect of the World, the first world atlas by an Englishman. Though attributed to John Speed, it is uncertain how much he actually contributed to The Prospect, as by 1620, Speed was in his seventies with failing eyesight and many of the maps are no more than modified versions of already existing Dutch models. He died in 1629 at the age of seventy-seven.
In 1676 Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell re-published both the Theatre and the Prospect. They updated the now-ageing world atlas with new maps of South East Asia, the Holy Land and four maps of 'His Majesty’s Dominions in the Americas.' John Speed’s striking maps with their decorative coats of arms, city plans, 'carte de figure' borders, and fascinating descriptive text are as appealing to collectors today as they were to Speed’s contemporaries.
