Old Map of Surrey in 1665 by Joan Blaeu - Guildford, Croydon, Kingston, Richmond

This vivid county map of Surrey was engraved and published in 1665 by Joan Blaeu, the celebrated Amsterdam mapmaker whose workshop produced some of the finest atlases of the seventeenth century. It appeared in his monumental Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Sive Atlas Novus, one of the great cartographic achievements of the Dutch Golden Age, and captures Surrey as it stood in the middle of the seventeenth century, decades before the county's rural parishes gave way to London's outward growth.

Look closely and you can pick out Woking, Walton-on-Thames, Guildford, Kingston, Esher, Cobham, Godalming, Oxted, Croydon, Brentford, Mortlake, Richmond, Sutton and Morden, all rendered in the hand-coloured detail typical of Blaeu's workshop. In the top right corner sit Stockwell, Clapham, Dulwich and Camberwell, all part of historic Surrey in 1665, long before they were absorbed into London itself. Rivers, parish boundaries and small hamlets are scattered across the county in fine engraved line work, offering a genuinely detailed snapshot of Surrey before its towns and villages multiplied.

A map like this makes a thoughtful housewarming gift for someone settling in Surrey, a birthday or Christmas present for a proud local, or a retirement and leaving gift for a colleague who has always called the county home. It also suits an anniversary present for a couple who met or married in the area. The fine engraving and delicate historic colouring have been carefully restored so every place name and decorative flourish remains sharp and legible.