1646 Somerset, Great Britain

Somerset Shire, Johannes Jannonius (1646)In 1645, Joan Blaeu (1598-1673) successfully published an atlas of England. Blaeu based this atlas on the `Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine' published by his English colleague John Speed (1552-1629) in 1611. Infected by this success, Blaeu's neighbour, Johannes Janssonius (1588-1664), copied the complete atlas. Janssonius published this pirate issue in 1646. This map of Somerset has been taken from Janssonius' atlas. The map is enriched with allegorical figures and attributes representing the economical and cultural character of the province.