SEPAC - Old Maps

Created as part of a joint issue with SEPAC (Small European Postal Administration Cooperation) entitled ‘Old Maps’, these stamps depict sections of an old map of “Garnsey” (Guernsey) illustrated by John Speed, one of the most famous British cartographers of the 17th century, whose visually stunning county and country maps are highly collectable and sought after around the world.

The stamps depict various sections of Speed’s “Garnsey” map and feature the historic Parish and Island names. The £1.00 stamp bears the SEPAC logo.

Speed (1552-1629) is noted for placing England into the mainstream of map publishing which had been dominated by the Dutch since the late sixteenth century. He began by issuing maps of Great Britain in 1611 in his well-known Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine. This remarkable work took over 15 years to assemble and is one of the most influential atlases of the British Isles ever published. It contains maps of the entire British Isles, the individual nations, and separate maps for the counties.