Hakluyt Society, Extra

1 total work

Richard Hakluyt's Discourse of Western Planting 1584

by Professor David B. Quinn and Richard Hakluyt

Published 1 January 1993

The Discourse in Western Plantingis the only extended original prose work in English of Richard Hakluyt the Younger (1552-1616), and until it appeared in print in Massachussetts in 1877, its existence was unknown to scholars. It is the most elaborate and important prospectus for English colonisation of North America to have been written in the sixteenth century. It was a confidential state paper presented to Elizabeth I, and the present text is oneof very few copies to have survived. The discourse is lucid and carefully constructed to appeal to the Queen's fervent nationalism and predjuices, bolstered by reference to oral evidence and printed works. The cumulative effect isimpressive.