A 17th century English panelled map of France

A superb map of France, with ten costume vignettes down the sides and eight city prospects, including Paris, Bordeaux and Calais, along the top. It was published in John Speed's 'Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World', the first world atlas published in England, which was first issued in 1627. This example comes from the Roger Rea issue, which was beset with disaster. According to an advert for the 1676 Bassett & Chiswell edition, ''the greatest part of an Impression, then newly Printed, [was] destroyed by the late dreadful Fire, 1666". Surviving examples of any Rea map are thus rare.