This is one of the most decorative maps of the British Isles produced during the golden Dutch period and one of the very earliest to include four decorative borders. Claes Jansz. Visscher’s map is offered here in its VERY RARE FIRST STATE. It was to have immediate influence and was copied by many others. The map itself was engraved by Abraham Goos after that of John Speed. The four border design was first adopted by Jodocus Hondius in 1617 of which only two examples are recorded. Although undated the map is issued before the death of James I in 1625. The decorative borders were etched in Visscher’s workshop and include town plans in the top and bottom borders. The sides are taken up with male and female figures of each of English, Irish and Scottish nobility followed by those of citizens and peasants. Schilder, in the most thorough census, records just ten known examples: Staatsbibliothek, Berlin; Koninklijke Bibliotheek ‘Albert I’, Brussels; Hessiche Landesbibliothek, Fulda; Universitatsbibliothek, Heidelberg; British Library, London; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; Private collections in Belgium, France and the UK; Stopp Collection, Private Foundation, Germany. Campbell MCC 46 no. 23; Schilder MCN IV pp. 317-18, ill 3.232 & VI pp. 362-4; Shirley 384; Weinreb & Douwma Cat. 6 no. 224.