Speed (John), Northumberland. Original map, published by Thomas Bassett & Richard Chiswell,1676. Hand-coloured.

Containing two vignette illustration of Newcastle and Berwick.

John Speed (1552-1629) was the outstanding cartographer of his age. By trade a merchant tailor, but by proclivity a historian, it was the patronage of Sir Fulke Greville, poet and statesman, that allowed him to pursue this interest in earnest.

His ‘Theatre of Great Britain’, first published in 1611 or 1612, was the first large-scale printed atlas of the British Isles. This edition, published by Thomas Bassett & Richard Chiswell [1676]