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Original Leaves from Famous Books
Show more"This first complete edition of Haklyut's Voyages gathers and describes the "Principal Navigations, Voyages, Tarrifques and Discoveries of the English Nation Made by Sea or Overland to the Remote and Farthest Distant Quarters of the Earth at any time within the compass of these 1600 years". This new and enlarged work extended into three volumes. The third volume deals with America and comprises eighty-one voyages to the new continent, ranging from the period of discovery to the end of the sixteenth century. Here we find the ringing tales of achievements of the Cabots, Cartier, Frobisher, Raleigh and Drake. Inspiration from this important and exciting compilation of England's searchings "further than ever any Christian hitherto hath pierced" was, as has been frequently stated, largely responsible for Britain's subsequent domination of the sea. The modern Hakluyt Society has issued over two-hundred volumes, each dealing with a separate voyage, with and introduction by an eminent scholar. The printing of a volume as large as this was a major undertaking and required all the material and financial resources of Robert Barker (also the printer and one of the sponsors of the first issue of the King James Version of the Bible), as well as the help of George Bishop, a wealthy alderman of the city of London and deputy printer to the Queen, and of Rolfe Newberrie." (Ege, Otto F.)
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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Show more"It has been the privilege of few human beings to enjoy the breadth and variety of personal experiences of life that were the lot of England's first great poet, Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400). He was a page in the royal household, prisoner of war, foreign diplomat, collector of customs, member of Parliament and clerk of the King's works. His personal background and wide reading in Latin, French and Italian ("of bokes rede I ofte, as I you tolde") , is mirrored in his Canterbury Tales. According to Dryden, "The matter and the manner of these tales and of their telling are so suited to their different Education, Humor and Calling, that each would be improper in any other mouth". These tales represent almost every type of medieval literature: the pious tale, the saint's legend, the sermon, the metrical romance and the romantic epic. The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer's most famous and varied work. Troilus and Criseyde, the most finished work of Chaucer, is one of the finest narratives in the English language. The poem, while dealing with the unimportant event of the Trojan war, becomes a great psychological study of the dealing character, Troilus, son of King Priam, and of his love of his widow Criseyde. In mood, the work ranges from gay wit to tragic grief. Chaucer's Romaunt of the Roses is a masterful translation of the great French allegory of refined love. "Adam Islip printed in London from the year 1594 to 1603. His first edition of Chaucer?s work was issued in 1598. Many "reforms" and "improvements" were made in the second Islip edition, "Sentences and proverbs noted... obscure words prooued, the Latine and French not Englished by the Chaucer, translated". (Ege, Otto F.)
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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