Sir Walter Ralegh's Discoverie of GuianaSir Walter Ralegh's account of his 1595 expedition to the Orinoco in search of the fabled empire of El Dorado was an immediate publishing success and is one of the most important pieces of Elizabethan travel literature. This edition presents, on facing pages, the annotated texts of a previously unpublished copy of Ralegh's fair manuscript draft of The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtifvl Empyre of Gviana and the subsequent printed versions, and demonstrates very clearly how Sir Robert Cecil and Ralegh's few other serious backers induced the reluctant author to alter his manuscript for publication. Lively tales of Amazon women, drinking bouts and swash-buckling adventures, which would have fascinated armchair travellers, were firmly deleted. The focus of his appeal to investors was shifted from an ephemeral golden empire to actual gold mines to which, as his manuscript shows, he had originally paid little attention and for which he had very little evidence. In effect Ralegh was forced to develop a strategy to mediate between what he believed to exist and what he actually found, between his dreams of what he might accomplish and the real obstacles which faced him in the field, between his creative, imaginative response to his recent journey and the need to present it in such a way as to encourage others to undertake another such journey with him. The materials collected in the appendices indicate that while men like John Ley were immediately inspired to explore Guiana, bringing back fabulous tales of monstrous peoples, Ralegh lost interest until he saw a chance to free himself from imprisonment in the Tower by inventing stories of Orinoco gold mines which he had never mentioned in either the draft or the published version of The Discoverie. |
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Page xxii
... Queen . Although Robert Devereux , earl of Essex , had outshone all rivals as Elizabeth I's prime favourite since ... Queen's knowledge Ralegh and his wife had been conveyed to the Tower on 7 August 1592 , imprisoned not so much for ...
... Queen . Although Robert Devereux , earl of Essex , had outshone all rivals as Elizabeth I's prime favourite since ... Queen's knowledge Ralegh and his wife had been conveyed to the Tower on 7 August 1592 , imprisoned not so much for ...
Page xxxvi
... Queen and her councillors were the intended audience of the memo- rial , whether as an attachment to the manuscript account of the voyage to the Orinoco or as a subsequent addendum . Quinn was of the opinion that it is unlikely that ...
... Queen and her councillors were the intended audience of the memo- rial , whether as an attachment to the manuscript account of the voyage to the Orinoco or as a subsequent addendum . Quinn was of the opinion that it is unlikely that ...
Page xxxviii
... Queen to support the project with full - scale state aid , but the treatise must demonstrate to her why she should take some substantial part in it and , perhaps , if the private ventures went well , in due course take positive ...
... Queen to support the project with full - scale state aid , but the treatise must demonstrate to her why she should take some substantial part in it and , perhaps , if the private ventures went well , in due course take positive ...
Contents
Maps and Illustrations | ix |
Of the Voyage for Guiana | xxxv |
The Background to the Spanish Searches for El Dorado | xliii |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Amapaia Amazones ancor Arawak barge Berreo borderers braunches brought cacique called Canoas Captaine capten Carapana CaronĂ Cassique coast countrey CumanĂ¡ daie Discoverie diuers Dorado El Dorado Emeria Empire of Guiana England English entred Epuremei euery expedition farre galley gold Guiana Guianians hath haue Ibid Iland Indians indigenous inhabited inserted in STC Keymis king land letters Lord Lordship Lorimer Majesty Manoa manuscript Margarita miles Morekito Morequito mountaines nations neere Nueuo numbers Omitted from STC Orenoke Orenoque Orenoqueponi Orinoco delta ouer Oyapoc Pedro Peru Popham port printed province Queen Raley reyno rich riuer river ryver Schomburgk sent shalbe shipp ships Sir Robert Cecil Sir Walter Ralegh sonne Spain Spaniards Spanish Spayne stones substituted in STC thence thereof told Topiawari towne trade Trinedado Trinidad tyme unto uppon victuall voyage vpon West Indies Whitehead wold yere