A New and Accvrat Map of the World - Humble / Speed
Item HUM01 - 87 x 65 cms - Price R6,330
Although published by George Humble, this map is almost certainly the work of John Speed, one of the best known and most popular of all British Cartographers. This map formed part of Speed’s "Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World". While John Speed inherited some of his father's maps and books, the materials for his "History" and "Theatre" were the property of Sudbury and Humble. In about 1618, Sudbury retired from the firm, and the plates passed to the sole ownership of Humble. Subsequently, he added plates for the miniature county atlas, and the folio Prospect. On his death in 1640, Humble's son William inherited the stock-in-trade. William continued to publish the atlases, and added the miniature edition of the Prospect, but under his control, the folio atlases were published in a rather haphazard fashion, and his editions are particularly rare.
Speed's maps when published by Humble often included the inscription "...augmented by John Speede and are to be sold in Popshead Alley by George Humble." However, this map omits the reference to Speed. Such was the importance of Speed's maps that they were copied for many years after by other cartographers, some plagiarized him, whilst others acknowleded the fact. In Speed's case he was humble enough to admit by his admissions...; "I have put my sickle into other men's corn" or "I have chiefly sought to give satisfaction to all without offence to any"
In addition to the common error of the times of showing California as an island, the map also shows a representation of the Great Wall of China. The double hemispheres of the world are joined by orbs showing the Northern and Southern star constellations. These orbs are flanked by scenic representations of the spirits of "Water, Earth, Fire and Aire"
The four corners of the map show the Earth in relation to the Heavens and the Elements; a figure demonstrating the "roundness of the Sea" and figures representing eclipses of the "Moone" and the "Sunne". Portraits of four great navigators are also shown - Francis Drake, Thomas Candish, Oliver van der Noort and Ferdinand Magellan.
