Saturday, May 27, 2017

Voyages

In 1606, England's claim to the vast new territories just north of Spanish Florida rested upon the many voyages taken between 1497 and 1596 under the flag of St. George.   Trying to discover a way to Marco Polo's "Cathy", they headed northeast and northwest above the 35th parallel.  Trying to finally collect the financial and political will, a fellow named Richard Hakluyt in 1600 published his third volume of these explorations which laid the foundation for the Virginia Company.  The following reference contains a selection of the three volumes published between 1598 - 1600.


Selected and edited by Irwin R. Blacker, this reference was published 1965 by the Viking Press, Inc., NY.  A good reference for those who like to dig a little deeper into this history.  The selections  begins with "The Letters Patents" to John Cabot 1497 down to "A briefe and true report of the Honorable voyage unto Cadiz, 1596...". [ A total of 49 documents are given.] 

For those who like history the first edition cover of Hakluyt's volume is shown:


What a deal!  I love it. [Above taken from William and Mary Quarterly , 3rd series, Vol. 12, 1955, p.453.]

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