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 This edition presents, on facing pages, the annotated texts of a previously unpublished copy of Ralegh's fair manuscript draft of The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtifvl Empyre of Gviana and the subsequent printed versions, and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 102
... nacions , and notwithstanding the moistenes of the aire in which they live , the hardnes of their diett , and the great labours they * < sustein > * to hunt , fish and fowle , for their living , in all my life either in the Indies or in ...
... nacions , and notwithstanding the moistenes of the aire in which they live , the hardnes of their diett , and the great labours they * < sustein > * to hunt , fish and fowle , for their living , in all my life either in the Indies or in ...
Page 140
... nacions , with as many of the rest of her bewties and vertues , as either I could expresse , or they conceave : all which being with great admiracion attentivelie heard , and marveilouslie admired , I began to sownd the old man as ...
... nacions , with as many of the rest of her bewties and vertues , as either I could expresse , or they conceave : all which being with great admiracion attentivelie heard , and marveilouslie admired , I began to sownd the old man as ...
Page 146
... nacions of the Cassipagotos , we were not hable with a barge of 8 oares to row one stones cast in an hower , and yet the river is as brode as the Thames at Wollidg , + and we tried both sides , and the middle , and every part of the ...
... nacions of the Cassipagotos , we were not hable with a barge of 8 oares to row one stones cast in an hower , and yet the river is as brode as the Thames at Wollidg , + and we tried both sides , and the middle , and every part of the ...
Contents
Maps and Illustrations | ix |
Introduction | xvii |
Key to Annotation | xcvii |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Amazones appear Berreo borderers brought called Captaine capten carried Cecil changed coast desire Discoverie Dorado Empire England English enter expedition farre farther give gold Guiana hand hath haue head hope Iland Indians indicate Indies indigenous inserted in STC John king land late letters Lord Majesty Manoa manuscript March Master meanes miles mountaines mouth nacions notes Omitted from STC Orenoque Orinoco Orinoco delta passage passed Peru port present Prince printed probably promised province Queen Ralegh refers Relation rest rich riuer river Robert seen sent ships side sort Spain Spaniards Spanish stones substituted in STC taken thence thereof things told tooke towne trade Trinidad tyme unto uppon voyage Whitehead women