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Description

A striking example of Speed's map depicting the invasions of England and Ireland.

A highly decorative detailed map, superbly engraved by Cornelius Danckerts, who copied a prototype map by Speed issued as a separate publication between 1601-03. The map shows the various invasions and internal battles from the Norman invasion in 1066 to 1588. The land battles are marked by opposing phalanxes of troops to the invasion places from Sea by attacking fleets.

The map is derived from the earliest known printed map by Speed of which only three sections have survived. Engraved by Cornelius Dankerts, it was first included in the last edition of Speed's Atlas to be published in his lifetime. The map was subsequently issued in all editions of the Atlas until 1676.

Reference
Shirley, R.W. (BI to 1650) #397, pl.70.
John Speed Biography

John Speed (1551 or '52 - 28 July 1629) was the best known English mapmaker of the Stuart period. Speed came to mapmaking late in life, producing his first maps in the 1590s and entering the trade in earnest when he was almost 60 years old.

John Speed's fame, which continues to this day, lies with two atlases, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (first published 1612), and the Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World (1627). While The Theatre ... started as solely a county atlas, it grew into an impressive world atlas with the inclusion of the Prospect in 1627. The plates for the atlas passed through many hands in the 17th century, and the book finally reached its apotheosis in 1676 when it was published by Thomas Bassett and Richard Chiswell, with a number of important maps added for the first time.