Beschreibung:

The 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 compasse of these 1500 yeeres.
London: George Bishop, Ralph Newberie and Robert Barker 1598-1599-1600. Three volumes in two, 4to (281 x 187 mm). Vol. I-II: [12]. 1-620, [8], 1-312, 1-204 (after p.5 there is mispagination that corrects itself at p.25), Vol. III: [7], 1-868. Ornamental woodcut capitals, head- and tailpieces. Old calf, rebacked to style, two morocco lettering labels to spine, edges stained red., boxed. Condition : without the world map as often found, small paper flaws on L3 and 3G1 vol. II with loss of a few letters, creased at preliminary leaves vol.I-II, some occasional browning and spotting; calf rubbed with some gouges. Provenance : contemporary ink inscription to rear pastedown; Philip Earl of Hardwicke (armorial bookplate to front pastedowns of vols. I-II). Acquisition : sale, Sotheby's London, 5 July 1993, lot 1020a, $5,627.38. second edition of this invaluable work, a treasure of nautical information and an elaborate historical compilation of english enterprise abroad . The second edition contained new material from all periods, including new information on the exploits of Sir Walter Raleigh. The English geographer and author Richard Hakluyt (c.1552-1616) was one of the first practical geographers in England and an important promoter of the English colonization of North America. Hakluyt compiled this collection of narratives by seamen and traders to encourage further voyages of discovery and trade with distant lands. Title-page in vol. I-II in the first state, dated 1598 and including the reference to "the famous victorie atchieved at the citie of Cadiz, 1596" and with the "Voyage to Cadiz" section at 3E4-3F4 (pp.607-617), 53 lines in eight paragraphs (Church first state) on paper with chainlines 20-25 mm apart. The section was suppressed by Elizabeth I after the disgrace of the Earl of Essex in 1599, but the sheets were not destroyed. In some copies sold after Elizabeth's death, these sheets were reinserted. As for the presence of the map, Pforzheimer notes: "It is generally allowed that the map which belongs in that third volume, though only occasionally found, was not issued with all copies." Church was able to locate thirteen copies of the map. There appear to be two variants of the printer's ornaments on the title-page in volume one. This copy has a border of fruit and flowers surrounding the opening word "The" and the ornamental device above the imprint is composed of a center medallion flanked by cupids. No priority has been established between this state and the variant with a typographical border around "The" and a device using three birds above the imprint. The present edition greatly enlarges the first edition of 1589, with the entire third volume devoted to America. "Hakluyt's Principall Navigations was the fruit of a life devoted to promoting the cause of English colonization and commerce by disseminating knowledge about, and stimulating interest in, all the less known or recently discovered parts of the world. This great repository of explorations, travels, and adventures 'within the compasse of these 1500 years' was aptly styled by Mr. Froude 'the prose epic of the modern English nation'" (Church). The Supplement "contains fourteen rare works not easily accessible in any other form, and is quite as important as either of the volumes published in [Hakluyt's] time" (Sabin 29600). European Americana 598/42; Borba de Moraes, p.328; Church 322 (second issue); Grolier English 14; Hill pp. 131-132 (second issue of the title); Palau 112038, 112039; Pforzheimer 443 (1st and 2nd volumes); PMM 105; Sabin 29595; STC 12626.