Speed, John “Bedfordshire”

John Speed.  “Bedfordshire.  From A Prospect of the most famous Parts of the World.  London: George Humble, ca. 1627.  15 x 19 7/8 (plus complete margins).  Engraving by Jodocus Hondius.  Attractive hand coloring.  Browning to paper.  Couple of tears in extremities.  Else, very good condition.  Framed.  With inset of Bedforde. A/A Speed is best known for his important Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, which has been called the supreme achievement in British map-making.  Speed spent over 15 years assembling the information for this atlas, which was first issued in 1611 by John Sudbury and George Humble.  It is one of the most influential atlases of the British Isles ever published.  The atlas contains maps of the entire British Isles, the individual nations, and separate maps for the counties.  These maps were primarily based on the work of Christopher Saxton and John Morden, but Speed updated information where possible and added new cartographic features such as town plans and