Text: English, Chinese (translation)

Ying-Yai Sheng-Lan: The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores (1433)

History

Ma-Huan

Europe

Hakluyt Society

Journals of MacKenzie

Americas

An account of the history of the Spanish colony in the Philippines during the 16th century. Antonio de Morga was an official of the colonial bureaucracy in Manila and could consequently draw upon much material that would otherwise have been inaccessible. His book, published in 1609, ranges more widely than its title suggests since the Spanish were also active in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, the Moluccas, Marianas and other Pacific islands. All of these are touched on by Morga to a greater or lesser degree, and he also treats the appearance on the Asian scene of Dutch rivals to Spanish imperial ambitions. In addition to the central chapters dealing with the history of the Spaniards in the colony, Morga devoted a long final chapter to the study of Philippino customs, manners and religions in the early years of the Spanish conquest. From the first edition, Mexico, 1609. A new edition of First Series 39.

Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, 1609, by Antonio de Morga (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

Asia

Significant in the history of Anglo-Spanish relations and of English ventures was Drake's expedition to the West Indies in 1585-86. His raids on Spanish towns on both sides of the Atlantic were aimed not only to gather treasure but to bring a military challenge to the empire of Philip II. The voyage was linked also with the plantation projects of Raleigh, and ended with Drake bringing home the discouraged settlers of the first Virginia colony. Although not a financial success, the expedition attracted wide attention in England and the continent and was a prelude to the events of 1588. For over three centuries after the voyage the main source of information about it was the lively narrative, strongly propagandistic in tone, that was published in 1588 and 1589. In the present volume this account, attributed to Captain Walter Bigges, has been critically edited in the light of evidence now available from English and Spanish sources. Printed also are documents relating to ships and personnel and to financial accounts of the expedition. Included too are the journal from the vice-admiral's ship, the Primrose, edited from the original manuscript, the fragmentary journals from ships of two other major officers, and an important newsletter. Among illustrations are a previously unpublished map relating to Drake's stop at Vigo, as well as the Boazio maps, which are shown in differing sizes and details. Dr Keeler's introduction discusses the expedition in the context of Elizabethan policies in the pre-Armada years. She points out new evidence on Drake's administrative practices, on his negotiations with Spanish officials, and on his dealings with a troublesome rear-admiral. Appendices provide critical notes on the Boazio maps and on the circumstances of the publication of the Bigges account. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1981.

Sir Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage, 1585-86 (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

Edmond Halley was already a well-known astronomer, mathematician and natural philosopher when, in 1698, he took command of His Majesty's Ship Paramore. The purpose of Halley's first two voyages was to test his geomagnetical theories; in the third voyage he investigated tidal phenomena. These voyages, which received royal approval, support from the Navy, and sponsorship from the Royal Society have been regarded as the first sea journeys undertaken for purely scientific purposes. Halley's departure on the first voyage was delayed because of his employment by Newton; and by Tsar Peter's desire to sail in the newly-commissioned Paramore. The first voyage ended prematurely with the court martial of Halley's first lieutenant. However, the second voyage was an eminently successful undertaking in which the Paramore made a wide sweep through the Atlantic reaching 52Â°24Â´S latitude. Halley made many observations which enabled him to produce the first isogonic map: this is also the earliest isoline map of any phenomenon. In his third and last voyage in the Paramore, in the summer of 1701, Halley made a detailed study of the English Channel. This voyage was also productive of highly original cartographic work including the first tidal chart. In this book the journals of Halley's three voyages are published in full from manuscripts now in the British Library. The journal of the third voyage is here published for the first time, and the earlier two are compared with versions published by Alexander Dalrymple in 1773 and 1775, from different source materials. All are extensively footnoted and preceded by a scholarly introduction by Professor Thrower on the multi-faceted aspects of Halley's important voyages. The work also contains well over one hundred documents relating to the voyages, many published for the first time. The two most original but now rare maps arising from these journeys, the Atlantic Chart and the Channel Chart (in two sheets), are reprinted in facsimile for the portfolio. Other maps, portraits, drawings, etc. illustrate this latest work from the Hakluyt Society.

The Three Voyages of Edmond Halley in the Paramore, 1698-1701: Volume I (Series II, Volume 156)

Edmond Halley

Military

The Russian conquest of Siberia was an event of which the consequences have only slowly become apparent. Already great, they may come to dominate much of our world; with today’s technology, a resource base of this size and richness confers immense power on the owner. The conquest was a gradual process of absorption. But if one had to assign a time and place for its start, then one would certainly choose the campaign of Yermak in the 1580’s. This enterprise was by no means wholly successful, and probably fewer than a thousand Russians participated in it. But it was the first entry in force into Siberia, and Russian historians have long regarded it as crucial. Among English-speakers, the events are not so well known. The object of this book is to provide the reader of English with translations of the most important documents relating to the campaign. There are several narrative accounts, collectively known as the Siberian chronicles: the Stroganov, Yesipov; Remezov and New chronicles. The Remezov chronicle, written about 1700, is illustrated with 154 pen and ink drawings. These are of great historical and artistic interest, for very few Russian drawings of this period survive. All are reproduced here. The collection of documents is rounded out with seven charters or decrees of Ivan IV relating to the advance across the Urals. Dr Armstrong's introduction provides background on Muscovy's eastern frontier in the 16th century; the Stroganov family; the Cossacks, in particular Yermak Timofeyevich and his band; routes across the Urals; non-Russian peoples encountered; and the authorship and provenance of the chronicles. Mr William Harrison contributes an essay on Yermak as folk-hero. The frontispiece and map 1 are now printed at the end of the volume.

Yermak’s Campaign in Siberia: A selection of documents translated from the Russian by Tatiana Minorsky and David Wileman (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

Travel

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a short work of uncertain date and unknown authorship, written in very difficult Greek. It is concerned with the coasts of the Red Sea and |Indian Ocean and may be described as a combined trade directory and Admiralty Handbook, giving sailing directions and information about navigational hazards, harbours, imports and exports. It is of great value for the study of the commerce of the Roman Empire and the early history of East Africa, South Arabia and India. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1980.

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, by an unknown author: With some extracts from Agatharkhides 'On the Erythraean Sea' (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

Africa

In May 1517, Luigi of Aragon, one of the most wealthy, cultivated and well-connected of Italian cardinals, left Italy for a leisurely tour through Germany, Switzerland, the Low Countries and France, which lasted until January 1518. Too grand to keep a record of his own movements, he was well-served by his chaplain and amanuensis, Antonio de Beatis, who day by day kept a steadily enthusiastic record of the scenes they passed amongst. The range of de Beatis's interests was quite remarkably wide. His descriptions of individuals, landscapes, towns, of whole regions and the characters and customs of their inhabitants, of churches, palaces, relics and works of art provide one of the clearest impressions we have of the physical quality of life in north-western Europe in the Renaissance. This range owes something to the company he kept. Without the Cardinal he would not have had the organs played in the churches they visited, would not have watched Raphael's tapestries being woven in Brussels or met Leonardo da Vinci at Amboise. But it owes still more to the traditions which by 1517 suggested not only what a curious traveller should look at but the way in which he might organise his impressions, and express them in writing. For this reason most of the editor's Introduction is devoted to providing a pioneering account of the evolution of the Renaissance travel journal. Though the Italian text published in the German edition of Ludwig Pastor in 1905 has been frequently quoted by political, social and art historians, the Journal has not previously been translated into English.

The Travel Journal of Antonio de Beatis through Germany, Switzerland, the Low Countries, France and Italy, 1517–8: Germany, Switzerland, The Low ... 1517-1518 (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

In 1736 Gerhard MÃ¼ller, a member of the new Russian Academy of Sciences, while gathering historical materials in Siberia, uncovered in Yakutsk reports briefly describing a voyage in 1648 from the Arctic river, Kolyma, around a great rocky promontory to a point south of the Pacific river Anadyr'. The reports were those of Semen Dezhnev, leader of the expedition and one of the 26 survivors. They gave very few details about the voyage, but said enough to lead MÃ¼ller to conclude that it demonstrated the separation of Asia and America, a matter insufficiently determined in 1728 by Vitus Bering. MÃ¼ller published an account of the voyage in 1758, and it aroused considerable interest, for it answered the long-standing question of the geographical relation between Asia and America, and became a factor in the sending to the north Pacific of Captain Cook to look for a north-west or north-east passage between Europe and the Pacific. Interest in the voyage declined after Cook's time and did not revive until the end of the next century when new material was discovered in the Russian archives. That and the frontal attack in 1914 on the evidence for the voyage and MÃ¼ller's conclusion from it by the American historian, Frank A. Golder, led in time, especially after World War II, to a more extensive examination of it by Soviet scholars and to the uncovering of new materials relating to it. Unfortunately these materials add very few details about the voyage, but they do provide information about the setting and circumstances in which it took place, its antecedents and aftermath, and led to a more searching probing of the episode. All of this justifies a drawing together and critical examination of the relevant documents and studies made of the voyage into a single and hopefully, balanced treatment of it and its participants, on the basis of which a judicious conclusion may be drawn as to its actuality and its significance. That conclusion, which is hard to escape, is that the evidence supports MÃ¼ller, not Golder.

The Voyage of Semen Dezhnev in 1648: Bering’s Precursor (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

JerÃ³nimo Lobo was the last survivor of the small band of Jesuit Fathers who tried, with a measure of success, to reconcile Ethiopia to the Church of Rome. His life was long and adventurous. The narrative begins with Lobo’s ordination in 1621 and ends seventeen years later. Chosen to serve in India he reached that country after being involved with a naval fight against the Dutch and English off MoÃ§ambique. Selected for the Ethiopian mission, he made a remarkable attempt to reach the country from the Somali coast, and eventually made his way to Bailul in the Red Sea and across the Danakil desert. He spent nine years in Ethiopia, principally in the north and in the neighbourhood of the source of the Blue Nile. Exiled when the Emperor restored the authority of the Ethiopian Church, he was handed over to the Turks at Massawa. After suffering much hardship and danger he regained India. Sent to Europe to advocate intervention on behalf of the Ethiopian Catholics, his ship was wrecked on the South African coast. The castaways built two boats, one of which succeeded in rounding the Cape and arriving at Luanda. Here Lobo embarked on a ship carrying slaves to the Spanish main which was captured by the Dutch. Lobo was marooned on an island but contrived to make his way to Cartagena and Havana and so to Europe. His diplomatic business took him to Madrid and Rome, but his plea for armed assistance for the Ethiopian Catholics did not succeed.

The Itinerário of Jerónimo Lobo (Hakluyt Society, Second Series)

Jeronimo Lobo

Literature & Fiction

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Hakluyt Society publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hakluyt Society