Africae, Described. The manners of their Habits and buildings newly done into English by I.S. and published at the charges of G. Humble
1626. John Speed was a notable cartographer and historian of Britain. This decorative map is sought after by collectors because it is the first map of Africa prepared by a notable English cartographer. His Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine was widely influential, later editions of which included this map of Africa. The map first was published in A prospect of the most famous parts of the world, which was a supplement to Speed's Theatre. Somewhat paradoxically, this first English map of Africa was engraved by the famous Abraham Goos, from Amsterdam – he was a relative of the Hondius family and therefore knew well the Dutch maps, from which this map is derived. The map has a long publication history (see Betz): published first by William Humble, then his son George (first state with date of 1626); then Roger Rea, most of whose atlases were destroyed in the Great Fire of London (2nd state)). Basset & Chiswell acquired Speed's plates after 1668 and published this 3rd state of the map, together with maps of the other continents and the world map. Some time before 1690 Christopher Browne acquired the plates, but a map of Africa from him is not known. The map is based maps of Jodocus Hondius (whose Latin annotations are translated into English) and Willem Blaeu (his geography). The geography is typically early seventeenth century with its legendary Ptolemaic mountains, rivers and lakes; typically, the Nile arises from two lakes. The Europeans knew little about the interior of Africa and, therefore, there are numerous illustrations of terrestrial animals ('elephants for want of towns', according to Jonathan Swift); the oceans have ships and sea serpents. The English text on verso provides a fascinating view of the European concept concerning the wildlife, customs and manners of the African people. There is a description of Anthropophagi, cannibals, who kill their own babies to avoid the trouble of raising them; but, in order to preserve their race, steal children from their neighbors. The side borders of this carte-a-figure map comprise sets of 5 decorative costumes of African peoples and the top border displays prospects of eight African Cities. Some of the border illustrations are copied from Willem Blaeu. At top is a panel of panoramas and plans illustrating Tanger, Ceuta, Alger, Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo (Alca), Mozambique and the Canary Islands. This example of the map is in attractive colour and in very good condition. a few minor chips along the edges and an old repair on the bottom joint. Acid free mounting tape on the back. Item #32085
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