400-year-old atlas of Britain to go on display
The first comprehensive atlas of Great Britain is to go on public display, 400 years after its publication.
John Speed's Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine is regarded as one of the world's great cartographic treasures. Each page is coloured and illustrated by hand, with the county maps featuring drawings of famous battles, local coats of arms and historic sites.
The atlas was first published in 1611-12 and and acquired by the Cambridge University Library in 1968. To mark the 400th anniversary, the university has digitised each page and put them online for the public to view.
The atlas was an immediate success on publication, with the first print of 500 copies selling out. Many editions followed and Speed became the most famous cartographer of the age....