c1710 - " HEREFORDSHIRE described with the true plot of the Citie HEREFORD as also the armes of the Nobles that have bene inituled with that Dignity "

A decorative and finely engraved 17th Century Map of Herefordshire - with heraldic shields and insets plan of HEREFORD, published in John Speed's THEATRE OF THE EMPIRE OF GREAT BRITAIN and published by Henry Overton  at the 'White Horse Newgate, London'. The reverse is blank. Measures 510 x 410 mm with hand colouring.
The Henry Overton Edition is very scarce compared to some of the earlier editions.

John Speed (1552-1629) was born in Cheshire and from his youth pursued his father's profession of tailoring. He later moved to London to continue this trade, though Speed's real passions lay elsewhere, namely in the fields of antiquity and cartography. He joined the Society of Antiquaries where his enthusiasm soon attracted the attention of notables such as William Camden and Sir Fulke Greville. In 1596, Greville provided Speed with a full-time allowance to write a 'Historie of Great Britaine'. It was during this project that Speed decided to add a cartographic supplement to the work, and it was from this that his famous atlas 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine' was born.

When published in 1611/12, his atlas was an immediate success, outdoing the one established by Christopher Saxon in 1579. There were several reasons for this; Speed's atlas showed each county separately with its hundreds, was respendent with heraldic shields but most significantly had one or two town plans. Displayed from a bird's eye view perspective, many of the towns were surveyed by Speed himself using a distinct "scale of paces' and are the earliest known plans of these places. The aesthetic beauty of the maps was also down to the Dutch engraver, Jodocus Hondius, whose fine calligraphy and decorative strapwork are a feature throughout. 

CONDITION: Original antique Map is in presentable condition. Central fold as issued. The margins are very tight to the border.  Bottom left corner has been restored in two places with backing paper added and detail drawn in and coloured along with a further restoration to the bottom centre left border, again with backing paper added, drawn in and coloured. There are some other areas of re-enforcement on the reverse to the central fold and to the borders.

We have priced this map according to its condition and is a good collectable example of this rare map.