French and German edition <strong>of</strong> the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum were published in 1572, and a further twenty-five editions were printed before Ortelius’ death in 1598. As well as a cartographer, whose stunning works contributed heavily to advances in sixteenth-century cartography, Ortelius is also remembered as a prophet, as he was the first person to propose the theory <strong>of</strong> continental drift in his Synonymia Geographica, 1578. John Speed (1552 - 1629) is the most famous <strong>of</strong> all English cartographers primarily as a result <strong>of</strong> The Theatre <strong>of</strong> the Empire <strong>of</strong> Great Britaine, the first atlas <strong>of</strong> the British Isles. The maps from this atlas are the best known and most sought-after <strong>of</strong> all county maps. The maps were derived mainly from the earlier prototypes <strong>of</strong> Christopher Saxton and Robert Morden but with notable improvements including parish “Hundreds” and county boundaries, town plans and embellishments such as the coats <strong>of</strong> arms <strong>of</strong> local Earls, Dukes, and the Royal Household. The maps are famed for their borders consisting <strong>of</strong> local inhabitants in national costume and panoramic vignette views <strong>of</strong> major cities and towns. An added feature is that regular atlas copies have English <strong>text</strong> printed on the reverse, giving a charming description <strong>of</strong> life in the early seventeenth century <strong>of</strong> the region. The overall effect produced very decorative, attractive and informative maps. For the publication <strong>of</strong> this prestigious atlas Speed turned to the most successful London print-sellers <strong>of</strong> the day, John Sudbury and George Humble. William Camden introduced the leading Flemish engraver, Jodocus Hondius Sr. to John Speed in 1607 because first choice engraver William Rogers had died a few years earlier. Work commenced with the printed pro<strong>of</strong>s being sent back and forth between London and Amsterdam for correction and was finally sent to London in 1611 for publication. The work was an immediate success and the maps themselves being printed for the next 150 years. Speed was born in 1552 at Farndon, Cheshire. Like his father before him he was a tailor by trade, but around 1582 he moved to London. During his spare time Speed pursued his interests <strong>of</strong> history and cartography and in 1595 his first map <strong>of</strong> Canaan was published in the “Biblical Times”. This raised his pr<strong>of</strong>ile and he soon came to the attention <strong>of</strong> poet and dramatist Sir Fulke Greville a prominent figure in the court <strong>of</strong> Queen Elizabeth. Greville as Treasurer <strong>of</strong> the Royal Navy gave Speed an appointment in the Customs Service giving him a steady income and time to pursue cartography. Through his work he became a member <strong>of</strong> such learned societies as the Society <strong>of</strong> Antiquaries and associated with the likes <strong>of</strong> William Camden Robert Cotton and William Lambarde. He died in 1629 at the age <strong>of</strong> seventy-seven. Publishers The lithographer and publisher Rudolph Ackermann was born in Saxony in 1764. He moved to London in 1787 and later established a business as a coachmaker at 7 Little Russell Street, Covent Garden. In 1796, having already published the first <strong>of</strong> many books <strong>of</strong> carriage designs, he moved to 96 Strand where he ran a drawing school for ten years. The following year, Ackermann moved to 101 Strand (known, from 1798, as The Repository <strong>of</strong> Arts) where he sold old master paintings and artists’ supplies as well as prints. In 1803, 220 Strand was given as his address in a print published that year. The Microcosm <strong>of</strong> London (1808-10) and the monthly Repository <strong>of</strong> Arts (1809-29) established his reputation for fine colour plate books. From 1816, he began to publish lithographs. Ackermann always maintained links with his native Germany, and in the 1820s, he also opened outlets in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru. In 1832, he handed the running <strong>of</strong> the business over to his second son George and his younger brothers, who traded as Ackermann & Co.at 106 The Strand until 1861. Ackermann also established a print business for his eldest son Rudolph at 191 Regent Street. John Browne (1741 - 1801) was an English engraver and publisher. The son <strong>of</strong> a Norfolk clergyman, Browne was educated in Norwich, and in 1756 was sent to London, where he was placed with John Tinney the engraver. William Woollett was his fellow apprentice. Browne’s reputation grew in 1768 when he exhibited the engraving ‘St. John Preaching in the Wilderness’, after Salvator Rosa. In 1770 he was made an associate engraver <strong>of</strong> the Royal Academy. Browne is best-known as an engraver <strong>of</strong> landscapes, which were <strong>of</strong>ten published by John Boydell. The firm <strong>of</strong> Day & Haghe was one <strong>of</strong> the most prominent lithographic companies <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth-century. They were also amongst the foremost pioneers in the evolution <strong>of</strong> chromolithography. The firm was established in 1823 by William Day, but did not trade under the moniker <strong>of</strong> Day & Haghe until the arrival <strong>of</strong> Louis Haghe in 1831. In 1838, Day & Haghe were appointed as Lithographers to the Queen. However, and perhaps owing to the fact that there was never a formal partnership between the two, Haghe left the firm in the 1850’s to devote himself to watercolour painting. The firm continued as Day & Son under the guidance <strong>of</strong> William Day the younger (1823 - 1906) but, as a result <strong>of</strong> a scandal involving Lajos Kossuth, was forced into liquidation in 1867. Vincent Brookes bought the company in the same year, and would produce the caricatures for Gibson Bowles’ Vanity Fair magazine, as well as the illustrations for
Cassells’s Poultry Book, amongst other commissions. F. C. McQueen & Sons was an English print publishers based in London in the late nineteenth-century. In the 1890’s the firm was run as a partnership between Charles Henry McQueen and Frederick George McQueen. They are best known for publishing sporting and hunting prints, and the photoengravings <strong>of</strong> J. Lowy. 1 Livingston, A. and Livingston, I., Dictionary <strong>of</strong> Graphic Design and Designers, 1992, p.187, London Transport Museum Database, February 2000, Riddell, 1994, Darracott, J. and L<strong>of</strong>tus, B., Second World War Posters, 1981 (1972), p.55
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