Cardigan shyre described with the due forme of the shire-town as it was surveyed by I.S. anno 1610 ; performed by John Speede; Jodocus Hondius caelavit

In 1611 John Speed (1551/2–1629), an English historian and renowned cartographer, published his ‘Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain’. This was the earliest English attempt at producing an atlas on a large scale. The 2nd of this work’s 4 volumes covered Wales and included a map of Wales along with individual maps of the 13 Welsh counties. Most of the maps in Speed’s work are dated 1610, though a few are earlier. Speed’s ‘Theatre’ was extremely successful and its maps became the basis for folio atlases produced up to the mid-18th century. (Speed’s county maps of Wales - National Library of Wales)