MBA004: Lot 30. SPEED, John.

A highly decorative map of Russia from John Speed’s Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World, the first World Atlas published by an Englishman, added to a posthumous edition issued by Basset and Chiswell. The map was apparently drawn by Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov of Russia (1589-1605), son and successor of Czar Boris Godunov, who was murdered shortly after succeeding his father. A copy of the map came into the hands of Hessel Gerritsz, a leading Dutch cartographer, who issued a printed version in Amsterdam in 1613, with the plate passing to Willem Blaeu and remaining in use into the 1660s, when it came to the attention of these London publishers.

Description

Hand-coloured copper-plate engraving on paper, figural cartouche, with an inset bird’s-eye view of Moscow in the top left corner, five other inset views; trimmed closed to platemark, light browning in the centre, light trace of fold, minor occasional repairs.

Provenance

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