Old Map of Bedfordshire in 1611 by John Speed - Bedford, Luton, Dunstable, St Neots, Leighton Buzzard
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John Speed's map of Bedfordshire first appeared in 1611 as part of The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, the atlas that established him as England's foremost county cartographer of the Jacobean age. Engraved in Amsterdam by Jodocus Hondius from Speed's drawings, the plate combined careful topographical survey with the kind of decorative flourish that made Speed's work as much a status object as a working map, and it remained the standard reference image of the county for the best part of a century after its first printing.
The map centers on Bedford itself, shown in an inset town plan in the manner Speed used across his English county maps, and traces the River Great Ouse as it flows through the shire past Bedford and on toward St Neots. Luton, Dunstable, and Leighton Buzzard are all marked along with the county's hundreds, each outlined and named following the administrative divisions of the day. A cartouche bearing the arms of the Earls of Bedford anchors one corner, a reminder that Speed's maps were designed to flatter the local gentry as much as to record the land.
This edition holds particular appeal for anyone with Bedfordshire roots or an interest in early English county cartography more broadly, since Speed's maps remain the earliest widely available printed record of most English shires. Reproduced at high resolution from a well-preserved original, it's offered in a range of sizes to suit anything from a small study wall to a larger family room.
