Old Map of Lincolnshire in 1611 by John Speed - Lincoln, Grimsby, Grantham, Boston

This richly detailed map of Lincolnshire was created by John Speed, the celebrated Elizabethan and Jacobean cartographer, and engraved by the Dutch master engraver Jodocus Hondius. It was first published in 1611 as part of Speed's landmark atlas "The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine", one of the earliest and most influential county-by-county surveys of England and Wales. At its centre sits a fine detailed engraving of the city of Lincoln, which was then, as it remains today, the county town of this ancient shire.

Across the county, the map labels a wealth of towns and villages, including Lincoln, Grimsby, Grantham, Boston, Cleethorpes, Immingham, Spalding, Skegness, Gainsborough, Stamford and Sleaford, most of which had already grown into recognisable settlements by the early seventeenth century. In the margin, Speed included the coats of arms of the Earls of Lincoln, along with a small historical engraving depicting the Battle of Lincoln of 1141, fought between the forces of King Stephen of England and those loyal to Empress Matilda during the civil war known as the Anarchy.

This map makes a fitting birthday, Christmas or Father's Day gift, a memorable leaving present for a colleague moving on from a Lincolnshire workplace, or a warm housewarming gift for a new home in the county. It is equally well suited to anyone who simply has Lincolnshire in their heart, wherever they now live. The fine engraved detail of the original 1611 plate, from the coastline of the Wash to the smallest inland village, has been carefully restored for this print.