Hakluyt Richard

PRINCIPAL NAVIGATIONS, VOIAGES, TRAFFIQUES AND DISCOVERIES OF THE ENGLISH NATION made by sea or over-land to the remote and farthest distant quarters of the earth, at any time within the compass of these 1500 yeeres...

      London George Bishop, Ralph Newberie and Robert Barker 1598, 1599, 1600 3 volumes. First Edition, First Impression of the Second Hakluyt, the greatest edition of the work. Volume I is the first state of the first impression and contains the "Voyage to Cadiz" which is almost always lacking and in state A with 53 lines on p. 607. Volume 2 in the rarest state with "Hackluyt" and the title "1599"; line 7 reads "these 1600 yeres". Volume I, a remarkable copy of the book, was BOUND FOR THE PRINCE OF WALES in elaborately tooled period calf. Engraved initials throughout. Folio, Volume I in an extraordinary binding executed in the 17th century for the PRINCE OF WALES in full period calf, covers very elaborately tooled with a very largefine central heraldic device in gilt depicting the coat of arms, very large corner tools showing the royal rose and crown, all surrounded by a gilt fillet line, spine with raised bands and tooled in gilt in the compartments with heraldic roses and lions rampant. Volume II and III in later full calf bindings, the spines duplicating the gilt tools in the compartments, covers with single gilt fillet line. Housed in a foldover cloth case with lettering label. [24], 619; [14], 312, 204; [18], 868. An unusually tall, handsome and very beautifully preserved set of this scarce and important work. Volume I in a superb, special binding for the PRINCE OF WALES. Exceedingly scarce in this condition. Some normative hinge wear. HIGHLY IMPORTANT AND VERY SCARCE. A PMM WORK. Hakluyt's greatest work. Although first published in 1589, this edition, restructured and greatly expanded, is by far the superior. This work has been called "the prose epic of the modern English nation" and is an invaluable treasure of material for the history of geographical exploration and colonization and has secured Hakluyt's reputation for centuries. The "Voyage to Cadiz" was suppressed by order of Queen Elizabeth and is rarely found. From most copies of the first issue it had been excised and a reissued and slightly altered title-page was quickly supplied. Few copies have the title-page mentioning Cadiz and even fewer the chronicle of the voyage itself. This copy has both. Volume 3 is entirely devoted to the Americas, and as such is one of the earliest English books to cover the subject in any depth. Hakluyt was a foremost supporter of English exploration and colonization in the New World. Sabin calls this one of the most desirable books for a collection of Americana. PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN cites "this enormous work..said to contain one million seven hundred thousand words (as) the most complete collection of voyages and discoveries, by land as well as by sea..Hakluyt.. inspired some of the great overseas explorations of his time and was one of the leading spirits in the Elizabethan maritime expansion. He met many of the great navigators---Drake, Raleigh, Gilbert, Frobisher and others---corresponded with Ortelius and Mercator and collected all the material on voyages he could find..He was a consultant to the East India Company and a patentee of the Virginia Company. He instigated numerous publications in the geographical literature of his time and suggested DeBry's publication of John White's drawings of America and Hariot's TRUE REPORT which became Part I of De Bry's great collection of voyages. His own manuscripts were used by Samuel Purchas for the HAKLUYTUS POSTHUMUS OR PURCHAS his PILGRIMES, the continuation of Hakluyt's work published in five volumes in 1625. The historical importance of the work cannot be overstated. In the words of Bancroft, this collection "redounds as much to the glory of the English nation as any book that ever was published" and as Dibdin said, "All hail to thee, [Attributes: Hard Cover]