Principall Navigations

by Richard Hakluyt
List(s):"Extreme Classics"
Category: "Travel"
Pages:520
Year of Publication:1590
Date Added:01/29/2010
Date Read:12/25/2014
Notes:Full Title: The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & 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 compasse of these 1600 Yeeres

Richard Hakluyt was an English lawyer who lived in the 1500s. He collected everything he could get his hands on about the voyages being made for purposes of trade, war and discovery by sailors, English or otherwise. His files included diaries, letters of instruction from kings and queens, reports, letters, etc. Beginning in 1582, his cousin, also named Richard Hakluyt began organizing and printing these documents, eventually filling 12 volumes. This book was a selection showing a variety of documents including those covering the most famous voyages — Drake's circumnavigation; the settling of Virginia; the Spanish Armada.
My Rating: 5

Reviews for Principall Navigations

Review - Principall Navigations

For some reason, the editor of this particular collection of Hakluyt's work decided to modernize some spelling oddities but not others, making it a somewhat slow read. The works are source documents, and it's easy to see why they are of great value to the historian. However, they don't make for terribly exciting reading and there are no editorial comments to explain the context of the various pieces. I wimped a bit. I read about a third of the book carefully, skimmed another third that pertained to voyages I've heard of and skipped the rest.

Reviewed by Roger on 2014-12-25 20:29:33

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