1651 Ancient world map by John Speed

A New and Accurat Map of the World by John Speed, published in 1651, is a richly ornamented double-hemisphere world map showing the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the partly imagined southern lands. The engraving includes celestial diagrams, classical personifications of the elements, portraits of famous explorers, ships, sea imagery, and decorative cartouches. Its elaborate style reflects 17th-century English cartography, where geography, astronomy, empire, and visual spectacle were combined for learned viewers.

John Speed was an English cartographer and historian best known for his influential atlases, including The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine and A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World. His maps were prized for their decorative borders, historical detail, and accessibility to a broad audience. Speed’s work helped establish English mapmaking as a major cultural and scholarly enterprise in the early modern period.