Speed Maps

"John Speed’s Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine is one of the world’s great cartographic treasures. Published in 1611/12, it marked the first time that comprehensive plans of English and Welsh counties and towns were made available in print. [..]

A slice of Tudor and Jacobean life in miniature, its influence was so great that it was used by armies on both sides of the English Civil War. [..]

The county maps were the first consistent attempt to show territorial divisions, but it was Speed’s town plans that were a major innovation and probably his greatest contribution to British cartography. Together, they formed the first printed collection of town plans of the British Isles and, for at least 50 of the 73 included in the Theatre, it was the first time these towns had been mapped."
[source]

A selection of the very rare hand-coloured proofs for the Speed atlas, produced between 1603 and 1611, is seen below. The collection of proofs was digitised recently by its owner, Cambridge University Library and prints of the maps are for sale.

The Kingdome of Great Britaine & Ireland

Graven by I. Hondius and are able to be ſolde by I Sudbury and George Humble in Popes head Alley in London. Cum privilego Regis 1610

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgshire deſcribed with the deviſion of the hundreds, the Townes ſituation, with the Armes of the Colleges of that famous Vniuerſiti. And alſo the Armes of all ſuch Princes and noble men as haue heertofore borne the honorable tytles & dignities of the Earldome of Cambridg.

"This province is not large, nor the air greatly to be liked, having the Fenns so spread upon her North, that they infect the air far into the rest. The soil doth differ both in air and commodities; the Fenny surcharged with waters: the South is Champion, and yieldeth Corn in abundance, with Meadow-pastures upon both sides of the River Came."

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire deſcribed with (every?) Citie and the Armes of the Colledges of (theyre?) famous Vniuerſity. Ao. 1605.

Performed by John Speede and are to beſold in popes head alley against the Exchange by IS & GH Cum Privilegio.

Wight Island

Deſcribed by William White Gent. Augmented and publiſhed by John Speed Citizen of London.

The Isle of Man

THE ISLE OF MAN Exactly deſcribed, and into ſeveral Pariſhes diuided, with euery Towne, Village, Baye, Creke, and Riuer therein conteyned. The bordringe Coaſts wherewith it is circulated in their situations ſett, and by the Compaſe accordingly ſhewed, with their true diſtance from euery place unto this Island by a ſeuerall scale obſerued.

MAN by Caeſar called Mona, by plini Monabia, by ptol. Monoceda, and by Gildas Evbonia is an Iſland ſeated in the Ocean betwixt the kingdomes of England, Scotland and Ireland, it formerly bare the name of a kingdome, and hathbene populous and well inhabited very plentyfull of Cattell, Foule and Fyſhe, it is nowe deuided into ſeauentene pariſhes, many Villages, and defended by twoe Caſtells.

THIS SCALE Conteyneth the Miles of the Iſland, it ſelfe, and is to be meaſured according the vſuall manner

PERFORMED BY IOHN SPEED Anno. 1605

Holy Island, Garnsey, Farne Island, Iarsey

Angelsey [Wales]

Antiently called Mona. Deſcribed 1608

Radnorshire [Wales]

The Countie of RADNOR described and the shyretownes sittuatione Anno 1608.

Deſcribed by ChriStopher Saxon, Augmented and publiſhed by Iohn Speede Servant to his Majeſty.

Leinster [Ireland]

The Countie of LEINSTER with the Citie DUBLIN Deſcribed

Ulster [Ireland]

The Province of ULSTER deſcribed

The Kingdome of Scotland

[including the]
Yles of Hebrides Caled of Pliny Haebudes, of Beda Meuaniae
[and the]
Yles of Orknay

Britain

As it was devided in the tyme of the Enghſhe (?) Saxons eſpecially during their Heptarchy



{All images were spliced together from screencaps; click through to greatly enlarged versions}



The John Speed proof maps (66 in total) were printed by Jodocus Hondius in Amsterdam. {Individual prints of the maps are available for purchase from Cambridge University}

Mapping the origins of a masterpiece.

Map Forum biography of John Speed [W].

Bloch Fish

Hand-coloured engravings from 'Oekonomische Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands' 1781-3 by ME Bloch. Series engravers: J.F. Hennig, L. Schmidt, A.F. Schmidt, G. Bodenehr, et al; after J.F. Hennig, Kruger junior, Plumier et al.



































































Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723-1799) was a German physician and ichthyologist, but academic prowess was anything but an inevitability in his life. He pulled himself up by his own bootstraps, as the saying goes, after an impoverished childhood left him illiterate into adulthood.

By some stroke of luck - or perhaps through artful persuasion - Bloch found a position as a teacher in a surgeon's home on the back of his scant knowledge of rabbinical texts. He made the most of the situation however, mastering German and Latin, and he began to study anatomy with the financial assistance of distant relatives. Eventually, Bloch completed a medical degree in Berlin where he subsequently worked as a physician.

Over a couple of decades, Bloch's interest in natural history increased and, in keeping with the custom of the times, he collected specimens and corresponded and shared specimens with international enthusiasts. Obviously fish was his main passion and he sent his son all over Europe collecting as many species as could be found. (The renowned collection still exists, housed at the Museum of Natural History at Humboldt University in Berlin)

Bloch was well into his fifties when his ichthyological hobby became his main academic focus. He concentrated on local fish in the beginning, publishing a couple of minor books on the subject. In about 1781-3 he began to release what would ultimately become the most important (and beautiful) study of fish published in the 18th century. It was one of the first wide-ranging ichthyology works that both provided detailed species descriptions and adhered to Linnaean principles. Although inaccuracies surfaced (particularly with non-German fish) and observations were eventually superseded, the series was generally serviceable and regarded as the standard for a century or more.

Bloch's 12-volume magnum opus -- 'Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Fische' -- began with the 3-volume series known as 'Oeconomische Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands' (the source for the images above; which specifically concentrated on German fish species). The overall series was released between 1781 and 1795 and was enormously popular. Investors helped defray the publication costs of the second half of the series by sponsoring individual illustration plates which bear their names.

The 432 hand-coloured engravings are fair attempts at reproducing the bright natural colouring of the fish and some of the illustrations were heightened with gold, silver or bronze filings to imitate the metallic sheen of scales. Bloch published a couple of other multi-volume series on fish (at least one posthumously), thereby cementing his place as one of the most important historical figures in ichthylogical science.

• The images above were sourced from 'Oeconomische Naturgeschichte der Fische Deutschlands' [LINK UPDATED Oct. 2013], online at the fabulous, but sadly dormant these last couple of years, University of Strasbourg Digital Collection (the Strasbourg homepage & new homepage} - the collection is mostly history of science and the majority of digitised works are illustrated; many appear in the BibliOdyssey archives).
• Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg has about one quarter of the illustration plates from the overall 12-volume series, but I don't know which volumes they chose (click anything below 'Inhalt' and then 'Vorschau' for a large page of thumbnail images.
• The Internet Archive has a substantial collection of Bloch publications.
• This [PDF] illustrated overview paper from 2011 by Fiona Melhuish from Reading University provides the best background online, although it specifically deals with another of Bloch's publications : but Bloch's books appear with different titles, in varying languages, and were reassembled in larger series and the like, so there is much relevant overlap.
• Marcus Eliezer Bloch at the Jewish Encylopedia. [W]
• A number of Bloch book reprints are available from Amazon.