The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana (American Exploration and Travel) [Paperback]

Walter Ralegh (Author), Neil L. Whitehead (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0806130202 | ISBN-13: 978-0806130200 | Publication Date: January 1998

"The Discoverie", by Walter Raleigh, narrates his expedition to South America in quest of an indigenous 'empire' in the highlands of Guiana. Military encounters with the Spanish, diplomatic encounters with native kings, and enigmatic encounters with monstrous marvels, are woven into a near-mystic quest for hidden gold. However, because of these apparently fantastical elements, this key text on the European expansion into the Americas remains poorly understood. Newly transcribed and annotated, this edition for the first time provides an anthropological commentary of the original edition of "The discoverie" and challenges existing evaluations of both Raleigh and of early travel texts more generally.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806130202
• ISBN-13: 978-0806130200
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,335,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > History > Americas > South America > Guyana

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars difficult but rewarding, November 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana (American Exploration and Travel) (Paperback)

Little needs to be said about Ralegh's text beyond the obvious--it is a fascinating example of Renaissance self-fashioning through travel writing. It is reproduced carefully and faithfully here, with a minimum of editorial intrusion, for which readers should be grateful.

Whitehead's long introduction poses more of a problem. It is shockingly badly written--one imagines that the editors threw up their hands in despair at the atrocious quality of the prose. Only professional anthropologists and historians are likely to struggle through it. This is a great shame, because Whitehead's argument is fascinating and important. In essence, he argues that many of the most seemingly fantastical aspects of Ralegh's account (tales of Indians with faces in their chests, etc.) weren't simply European projections, but products of an interaction between European assumptions and native myths.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Eympyre of G, February 4, 2000

By 

Luke (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana (American Exploration and Travel) (Paperback)

I think that this book was excellent. The author was a very talented man. I recommend this book to any one who would like to learn more about the history of South America.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Eympyre of G, February 4, 2000

By 

Luke (Oxford, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana (American Exploration and Travel) (Paperback)

I think that this book was excellent. The author was a very talented man. I recommend this book to any one who would like to learn more about the history of South America.