A scarce issue of John Speed’s famous map of Yorkshire

An important map of Yorkshire, engraved by Jodocus Hondius for John Speed's county atlas, 'The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain', first published 1611-12. It is one of the most decorative maps of the county, with ornate cartouches for the title, scale and publication line, the Royal Arms, a compass rose and vignette galleon. An English text on the reverse gives a history of the county and an extensive list of towns and villages. This example comes from the Roger Rea issue of the atlas, 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.