Engraved and published by Salomon Savery in 1632. The Latin inscription is translated below.
In memory of a most distinguished man
John Speed, born at Farndon in the County of Cheshire; a citizen of London; a member of the Merchant Taylors’ Company; the most faithful servant of the royal majesties Elizabeth, James, and Charles (now reigning); a precise geographer of our lands; a trustworthy historian of British antiquities; and a most elegant draftsman of sacred genealogy.
After he had lived for 77 years, he was overcome not so much by illness as by weariness of mortality itself.
He departed this life on July 28, 1629.
I am both privileged and humbled to have introduced his work to many millions of people across the world both through our supply of reproductions of his work through heritage sites and the medium of the internet.
Stephen Plomer-Roberts
The Old Map Company