Highly decorative double hemisphere world map, with celestial hemispheres, the system of Ptolemy and diagrams of eclipses of the Sun and the Moon.


This seminal map was the first atlas map of the world to be produced by an Englishman and was part of the first English atlas covering the globe.


To enhance the success of his English county atlas, A Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, Speed decided to augment it with an additional section of maps covering the rest of the world, entitled A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World.


Taking advantage of his Dutch contacts, Speed contracted the work to be done in Amsterdam, the home of both the best mapmakers and engravers in Western Europe during this period. The map is generally attributed to the master engraver, Abraham Goos. Thus, the map bears an indelible similarity to the foremost Dutch world maps from the early Golden Age of Cartography. This explains the major geographical innovations such as the delineation of the islands of California and Korea. In the former case, this is the first atlas map to show this particular feature.


Aesthetically, the map embraces the artistic tradition flourishing in Amsterdam in this period, with allegorical figures of the four elements surrounding the two hemispheres, diagrams of heavenly bodies prominent in each corner and with a nod to the English market, portraits of four of the great circumnavigators of the Age of Discovery, two of whom, Drake and Cavendish, happen to be English.


Speed's map is identified as being one of the highlights of the Golden Age of Cartography and he is the only English member to be accorded membership of this exclusive group.


Bassett and Chiswell edition. English text on verso. Image available on request. Coloured. [Shirley 317]

[WLD4153]