“Americae Nova Tabula” from ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Sive Atlas Novis’, published in Amsterdam by Willem (Guillaume) Blaeu (1571-1638) in 1635.

Nine decorative views of important North and South American cities and harbors across the top, including Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Havana, Cusco, Cartagena and Santo Domingo and ten miniature engravings of Native Americans from various regions in their native costumes along the side panels. The map is also embellished with eight sailing ships, four sea monsters and vignettes in the interior of the continent showing Indian life.

“Europ, and the Cheife Cities contained therein, described with the habits of most Kingdoms now in use” by John Speed (1551/2-1629) from his atlas ‘A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World’, engraved by another legendary cartographer Abraham Goos (1590-ca.1643) and published in London by George Humble in 1626. This famous map includes eight small vignette city maps and view across the top, including: London, Paris, Rome, Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), Venice, Prague, Amsterdam and Lisbone (old English spelling). Ten vignettes are included along the sides depicting Europeans in their native dress.

“Asia Noviter Delineata” from ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Sive Atlas Novis’, published in Amsterdam by Willem (Guillaume) Blaeu (1571-1638) in 1635.

Nine vignettes of city plans and maps across the top, including: Candy, Calecuth, Goa, Damasco (Damascus), Jerusalem, Ormus, Bantam, Aden and Macao) and ten vignettes along the sides depicting the dress of native people. The Great Wall of China is shown in detail. Korea is incorrectly shown as an island, although its northern border is very close to the mainland. Four sail ships, two sea monsters and a lion enhance the map.

“Africae Nova Descriptio” from ‘Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Sive Atlas Novis’, published in Amsterdam by Willem (Guillaume) Blaeu (1571-1638) in 1635.

This is one of the most decorative and popular of all the early maps of Africa. Nine African city maps and views are depicted in detailed vignettes along the top, including: Tanger (Tangiers), Ceuta (south of the Strait of Gibraltar in modern day Morocco), Alger (Algiers), Tunis, Alexandria, Alcair (an ancient city in Egypt along the Nile), Mozambique, S. Georgius dell Mina (?) and Canaria (Canary Islands). The map is decorated with nine sailing ships, seven in the Atlantic and two in the Indian Ocean; all flying Dutch flags. Flying fish, whales and sea monsters are seen in the oceans, while elephants, monkeys, lions, ostriches and camels are depicted wandering all over the continent. Ten decorative vignettes of costumed couples from various parts of Africa are present along the sides. The Nile is shown according to Ptolemy with its sources arising in Lake Zaire (unclear if this is modern day Lake Victoria of a factious body of water).

"A Newe Mape of Tartary" (Russian Empire) by John Speed (1551/2-1629) from his atlas ‘A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World’, published in London by George Humble in 1626.This map has four vignettes of views of cities Astracan, Samarchand (Samarkand in modern day Uzbekistan), Cambalu (the capital of the Mongol Empire, founded by Kublai Khan, later called Peking and currently Beijing) and The House of Nova Zemla in the northern portions of Tartary jutting into the North Sea and the Frozen Sea. There are eight vignettes of indigenous people in their traditional dress. Tartary includes the Asian portions of Russia (Siberia, The Caucasus, The Poontic-Caspian Steppe, the Volga-Yrals) as well as portions of China, Tibet, Mongolia and Manchuria.

“Geographische Beschryvinghe Van de Wandeling der Apostelen ende De Reysen Pauli” (The Route of the Walking Tour of the Apostle Paul) by Nicolaes Visscher I (1618-1679), published in Amsterdam in 1669.

The map includes Italy, Sicily, Asia Minor, Babylon, Armenia, the Holy Land and the Red Sea. Nine vignettes illustrate events in the life of St. Paul the Apostle, particularly along his travels from Jerusalem to Rome where he died. Scenes include: the young Paul before his conversion, his baptism by Ananias, healing the paralytic, a shipwreck in Malta, Paul blinded on the road to Damascus, his escape from the city and an appearance before the Roman emperor Nero.

“The Countye Palatine of Chester with that most ancient citie described” from The ‘Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain’ by John Speed (1551/2-1629), first published in London in 1611. Speed’s atlas of Britain included maps of British counties.

The map has a rather large inset of a map of the city of Chester and vignettes of the coats of arms of the Earls of Chester dating from the Norman conquest of England.