JOHN SPEED

The story of how stock of the London map trade was acquired or passed from one to another is a fascinating one. The relationships between surveyors, mapmakers, engravers, publishers and mapsellers is often complex. I hope the following helps to illustrate the history of John Speed's map plates and a few other relationships.

You may come across a few John Speed maps with colouring described as early. The publishers, however, did not advertise or sell the atlases coloured unlike some of the 17th century Dutch map publishers. No doubt you would have had to employ a colourist before the maps were bound into the atlas. The majority of John Speed maps arrived in the 20th century in an uncoloured state. Modern colouring is quite acceptable and many present day collectors like their John Speed maps to be coloured. There are those, however, who would prefer to have a specimen as it was when published. It is really a matter of personal taste. The quality of the modern hand colouring is in my opinion extremely important and poor unattractive modern colouring can greatly reduce the value. I have seen some very very poor modern hand colouring and it makes me despair. So many John Speed maps have been hand coloured in the last 90 years. Perhaps there will be a move by collectors to favour uncoloured specimens one day as they are condsidered to be rarer. Who knows.

Did you know that many of the coats of arms on John Speed's maps are colour coded?

If you look carefully at the coats of arms you will see small engraved letters on different parts. The letters were chosen from traditional mediavel French. OR (Gold) is lettered O
Bleu (Blue) is lettered B
Gules (Red) is lettered G
Vert (Green) is lettered V
Argent (Silver) is lettered A
Purpure (Purple) is letterd P

The impressive engraved frontispiece makes a statement of great power and is a fitting start to The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. It is interesting to note the slight changes in the new engraving by Robert White for the 1676 edition published by Thomas Basset and Richard Chiswell. The basic layout of the figures of a Roman, a Saxon, a Dane and a Norman remain. The title label is now arched instead of square and there are changes to the engravings on the plinth showing London and a sailing ship..

Thirty-three of Speed's maps bear the signature of the engraver of the plates, Jodocus Hondius (1563-1612). The engraving took place in his studio in Amsterdam. Other maps may have been engraved by Abraham Goss but none bear his name. Speed must have spent much time gathering together material to produce the maps including drawings of buildings, antiquities, portraits and the unique town plans that were so cleverly woven into the design of each map by the engraver to produce a beautifully balanced piece of artwork.

It appears the the engraved plates were sent to London for printing where the text for the atlas was also printed. Proof impressions of the plates with no text on verso do exist. You may be lucky to find one of these one day. I have only two in my own collection, Caernarvonshire and Flintshire. There are a few sets in existence including the British Museum, Royal Geographical Society and Cambridge University Library.

There are 66 maps in the Cambridge University Library set. It is known as the Gardner set after the former owner Dr. Eric Gardner (1877 - 1951) These maps are viewable online in the Cambridge Digital Library

There are modern reproductions of John Speed maps that the collector should be aware of. It is unlikely that once you have handled an original map by John Speed you will be caught out by these reproductions but do take care when purchasing framed maps as it is more difficult to see the features.

I get two or three telephone calls a month about John Speed maps from people who have found them in their loft or been left them. Very often they are from a series of reproduction maps that have been sold widely for many years. They are very easy to spot and usually I can answer a telephone callers concerns by a few questions, such as. What is the paper like that the maps are printed on? If the answer mentions parchment then the answer is simple. It is a modern reproduction of little or no value. The map has no text on the back and no centre fold and the overall colour of the paper is brown. These maps have been sold in their thousands. I remember seeing them back in the 1970's in stationers shops and perhaps Smiths, folded into paper wallets with a transparent panel on the front showing part of the map. The fold lines are usually still evident.

I do see these maps appearing in auction sales. One was catalogued John Speed, British, 1552-1629, Middle-sex described with the most famous Cities of London and Westminster; vignette to lower right reads 'Described by John Norden, Augmented by J Speed, Solde in Popes alley against the Exchange by George Humble', sheet size 35.5cm x 48cm, frame 45.5cm x 58cm

In heavily worn condition. Heavily stained dark brown throughout. Previously folded in four with prominent horizontal and vertical creases visible. Ruckling and undulation to the sheet. Has not been inspected out of the frame.

The auctioneer's estimate was £80- £120. Opening price - £30. To a map collector their value in my opinion is nil. I can only caution you with the words caveat emptor