Britain As it was devided in the tyme of the Englishe Saxons especially during their Heptarchy

A splendid map of Great Britain during the Anglo-Saxon period with margins showing the seven Saxon kings of the Heptarchy on the left and pivotal events from Britain's conversion to Christianity on the right as told in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. These include the martyrdom of Bishop Erkenwald, the conversion of King Aethelbert, and the betrayal of King Peada of Mercia by his wife at Easter.



This map was drawn by John Speed, the foremost English mapmaker of the 17th century. It was published in his seminal county atlas of Britain and Ireland, the Theatre of Great Britaine and Ireland, the first edition of which was issued in 1611-12. Speed's Theatre was the first complete county atlas of England and one of the only English atlases of the 17th century to rival the splendour of the Dutch atlases of the period. Speed's atlas was such a success that his maps continued to be printed for over 150 years by successive publishers, despite being terribly dated. Their beauty was, and continues to be, their greatest attraction, though the contemporary 17th century descriptions (in English) on the back of each of the maps are also extremely charming to the modern collector.



Coloured. [GB2043]