John Speed 1610
John Speed 1610
Born in Farndon, the son of a merchant tailor, John Speed draws heavily on Saxton and another mapmaker, William Smith, for the basis of his map. Fortunate in having a rich patron, Sir Fulke Greville, his map is embellished with a decorative scale and title cartouche and numerous coats-of-arms. As with Saxton, Speed’s map of Cheshire was one of a set produced for an atlas of ‘Great Britaine’. It provides additional placenames but the main feature of this map is the inclusion of a plan of Chester. This has a key to streets and buildings and a ‘Scale of Pases’ and Speed is said to have ‘paced’ the streets himself in preparing the map.
Born in Farndon, the son of a merchant tailor, John Speed draws heavily on Saxton and another mapmaker, William Smith, for the basis of his map. Fortunate in having a rich patron, Sir Fulke Greville, his map is embellished with a decorative scale and title cartouche and numerous coats-of-arms. As with Saxton, Speed’s map of Cheshire was one of a set produced for an atlas of ‘Great Britaine’. It provides additional placenames but the main feature of this map is the inclusion of a plan of Chester. This has a key to streets and buildings and a ‘Scale of Pases’ and Speed is said to have ‘paced’ the streets himself in preparing the map.
Click on the map to see a zoomable version. The filesizes of these online maps have been significantly reduced to assist internet viewing. To obtain the maps at their full size and quality go to "Maps on CDs".
Click on the map to see a zoomable version. The filesizes of these online maps have been significantly reduced to assist internet viewing. To obtain the maps at their full size and quality go to "Maps on CDs".
