Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 632 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SPEED, See also:JOHN (1552–1629) , See also:English historian and cartographer, was See also:born, according to See also:Fuller, at Farringdon, See also:Cheshire. He was the son of a See also:London tailor, and followed his See also:father's See also:trade, being admitted member of the See also:Merchant Taylors See also:Company in 1580. He settled in Moorfields, where he built himself a See also:house. He was enabled to give up his trade and to devote himself to antiquarian pursuits through the kindness of See also:Sir See also:Fulke Greville, whom Speed calls the " procurer of my See also:present See also:estate," and through his See also:patron's See also:interest he also received a " waiter's See also:room in the See also:custom-house." The results of the leisure thus secured to him appeared in 1611 in his See also:Theatre of the See also:Empire of See also:Great Britaine, a See also:series of fifty-four maps of different parts of See also:England, which had already appeared separately, and in which he was helped by See also:Christopher Saxton, John See also:Norden and See also:William See also:White. To each See also:map descriptive See also:matter was attached. In 1611 also he published his See also:History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of the See also:Romans . . . to . . . See also:King See also:James. Speed acknowledges his obligations to the See also:chief antiquaries and historians of his See also:day. Sir See also:Robert See also:Cotton See also:lent him See also:manuscripts and coins, and is said to have revised the proofs for him; in See also:heraldry he acknowledges the help of William See also:Smith (1550?–1618); and he had valuable help from John Barkham (1572?–1642) and Sir See also:Henry See also:Spelman. Speed brought some See also:historical skill to See also:bear on the arrangement of his See also:work, and although he repeated many of the errors of older chroniclers he added valuable material for the history of his See also:country.

He died in London on the 28th of See also:

July 1629. Other maps of his, beside those in the Theatre, are in the See also:British Museum. Another edition of the Theatre is Theatrum Magnae Britanniae latine, redditum a P. See also:Holland (London, See also:folio, 1616). He wrote Genealogies Recorded in Sacred Scriptures (1611), and a similar work, A See also:Cloud of Witnesses (1616). These passed through numerous See also:editions, and were frequently prefixed to copies of the See also:Bible. An See also:account of Speed's descendants is to be found in Rev. J. S. See also:Davies's History of See also:Southampton (1883), which was founded on MS. material See also:left by John Speed (1703–1781).

End of Article: SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SPEDDING, JAMES (18o8–1881)
[next]
SPEEDI