Richard Hakluyt (1553-1616)

Richard Hakluyt is familiar to every student of American History.  He was an English geographer. His many writings, and his persistent promotion of Elizabethan overseas expansion encouraged England to explore and colonize North America.

Color version of Abraham Ortelius’ Typus Orbis Terrarum, a map inserted into the first edition of Richard Hakluyt’s The Principal Navigations (1589)

Color version of Abraham Ortelius’ Typus Orbis Terrarum, a map inserted into the first edition of Richard Hakluyt’s The Principal Navigations (1589)

His works include: Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America (1582) and The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation (1589–1600). Hakluyt’s, The Principal of Navigations provides virtually everything known about the early English voyages to North America.

Of interest to Manuscript Society members is the following from the Hakluyt Society Journal (November 2022).

Anthony Payne: The Manuscripts of Richard Hakluyt: A Bibliographical Survey with Some Comments on Attributions, November 2022. This survey provides a bibliographical guide to the various extant manuscripts in the hand (or thought to be) of Richard Hakluyt. It also includes manuscript items authored (or thought to be) by Hakluyt but not in his hand. Finally it includes manuscript works by others at one time in his possession or in the composition of which he was associated. Each manuscript has a separate entry in the listing, giving its location, bibliographical references, editions, reproductions, and comment as appropriate. To read or download the survey Click.