Very Old Map of the British Isles, 1562 by George Lily – First True Map of Great Britain and Ireland – Bertelli & Lafreri Version of George Lily’s Map
This is the first truly modern map of the British Isles, showing Great Britain, Ireland, the Orkneys and Hebrides, and parts of north Europe. This map was published in 1562 by Ferrando Bertelli of the Italian Lafreri school of mapmakers, but it’s an almost exact copy of George Lily’s earlier 1546 map.
For the most part, the cartography of England and Scotland are fairly accurate – but Ireland is.. quite primitive to say the least.
The two inset descriptive panels give a textual description of Ireland and Great Britain… but written in Latin, so you may need a dictionary to decipher them.
Despite being almost 500 years old, many towns, villages and cities are already labelled on this map. Zoom in on some of the detailed images and see if you can spot your town!
This map looks beautiful at all sizes, from 12×16 inches (30x40cm) to 18×24 inches (45x60cm) and beyond. It looks truly amazing at larger sizes; I can print this one up to 80 inches (200cm) tall. Please get in touch if you’re looking for larger, customised or different framing options.
This would make a wonderful gift for someone from Great Britain or perhaps a historian or geographer.
If this old map doesn’t quite do it for you, I have many other maps of England and Wales, such as this very famous and beautiful geology map:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/749329110/old-geological-map-of-england-wales-1843
Or this ancient one of the whole British Isles by John Speed in 1611:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/862369662/old-map-of-british-isles-in-1611-by-john
You can order the map itself, or you can order a framed version. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that really makes our maps pop out when on a wall. Please get in touch if you’d like a different frame. We use super-clear acrylic (perspex/acrylite) in our frames – it’s less reflective than glass and better for transport.
