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 This edition presents, on facing pages, the annotated texts of a previously unpublished copy of Ralegh's fair manuscript draft of The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtifvl Empyre of Gviana and the subsequent printed versions, and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 liv
... seen in the address ' To the Reader ' and in the commentary inserted into the printed text , Ralegh was anxious to disassociate himself from the worthless rock samples brought back by some of his company . It is interesting that his ...
... seen in the address ' To the Reader ' and in the commentary inserted into the printed text , Ralegh was anxious to disassociate himself from the worthless rock samples brought back by some of his company . It is interesting that his ...
Page lx
... seen Ralegh did not include his account of bringing back a barrel load of mineral stones picked up near the River Guanapo in 1595 in the printed version of The Discoverie . ' It is always possible that he used these samples to float a ...
... seen Ralegh did not include his account of bringing back a barrel load of mineral stones picked up near the River Guanapo in 1595 in the printed version of The Discoverie . ' It is always possible that he used these samples to float a ...
Page 126
... seen a better favoured woman : She was of good stature with black eyes , fatt of body , of an excellent countenannce , her haire almost as long as her selfe , tied up again in pretie knots : and it seemed she stood not in that aw of her ...
... seen a better favoured woman : She was of good stature with black eyes , fatt of body , of an excellent countenannce , her haire almost as long as her selfe , tied up again in pretie knots : and it seemed she stood not in that aw of her ...
Contents
Maps and Illustrations | ix |
Introduction | xvii |
Key to Annotation | xcvii |
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 divers Dorado El Dorado Emeria England English entred Epuremei euery expedition farre galley gold Guiana Guianians hath haue Ibid Iland Indians indigenous inhabited inserted in STC Keymis king land leagues letters Lord Lordship Lorimer Majesty Manoa manuscript Margarita miles Morekito Morequito mountaines nations neere numbers Omitted from STC Orenoke Orenoque Orenoqueponi Orinoco delta ouer Oyapoc Pedro Peru Popham port Prince printed province Queen Raley 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