Two sheets, 392 x 510 mm, copper engraved map, costumed figures in side-borders, town plans in upper border, some cuts to borders, London, G. Humble, 1626.

Synopsis

Nice example of the first edition of Speed’s map of Asia, decorated with 10 costumed figures and 8 town plans of important early Asian cities (Candy, Goa, Damascus, Jerusalem, Ormus, Bantam, Aden and Macao). Korea is shown as a slender oddly projected Peninsula.
The Great Wall of China is shown, along with an Elephant above the source of the Ganges. A nice simple/naïve Northeast Passage is shown, along with a piece of North America and sea monsters in the extreme North Pacific and Southern Indian Sea. The text on the verso presents a fascinating Anglocentric view of Asia in the early 17th Century.