"The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, Made by Sea or Over-land…” Richard Hakluyt (1553-1616) - FIRST EDITION – London - 1589

"The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, Made by Sea or Over-land…”

Published in London in 1589 by George Bishop

Richard Hakluyt (1553-1616)

-FIRST EDITION – here complete of all text including the Bowen leaves in 2^nd state and the Drake leaves.

Collation: Folio (1 volume)  xvi, 1-501 (Bowen leaves in 2^nd state from pp 491-501) 506-643 (12 Drake leaves) 644-825 with colophon at end of text (Complete text).

Generally, very good condition. Some side-notes and upper titles are trimmed. Title page backed. Title page backed. 19th Century calf, with spine rebacked. Some annotations and old names to title page and text.

This work is a cornerstone for any travel library and a celebrated work of English literature in its own right. It contains detailed accounts of all early travel before 1590 including many never before published and important early voyages to America.

Two alterations were made during the course of the printing of Hakluyt’s voyages. Francis Drake’s circumnavigation was added at late notice as a 12 leave addition between pages 643 and 644. The Bowen leaves, which described Sir Jerome Bowen’s embassy to Moscow were amended at the request of the Muscovy company (or perhaps Francis Walsingham – Queen Elizabeth’s minster). The second state of the bowen leaves, as found in this copy, run from pages 491-501 and account for the pagination gap (as the first state leaves were paginated 491-505).

Hakluyt was a strong proponent of exploration, trade and settlement in America, and was a leading member of the Virginia company in London. In the 1580s, he spent 5 years as an English ambassador in Paris, where he learnt of the importance of trade with America. While there, he collected information on English and European merchants and “made diligent inquirie of such things as might yield any light unto our westerne discoveries in America."  Hakluyt returned to London in 1588 and soon after published this his most famous work – “The Principall Navigations”.

Hakluyt is also remembered for his contribution to English literature as the travel works he wrote, and those he encouraged to be translated, directly influenced the writings of Shakespeare.

Despite being the most up to date travel account of its day, interestingly the most annotated account in this copy is that of John Mandeville - A largely unreliable, but hugely popular, mediaeval account of travel.