Samuel Purchas

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Samuel Purchas 1625

Samuel Purchas (* 1577 in Thaxted , Essex , † 1626 in London ) was an English clergyman and editor of travel literature .

Life

Samuel Purchas was probably born in Thaxted, England around 1577. His father George was a successful cloth merchant; Little is known about his mother Anne and his childhood. From 1594 he attended St. John's College , Cambridge and graduated in 1600, then became a deacon of the Church of England and in 1604 vicar in the village of Eastwood , Essex.

The patriotic purchas devoted his time to reading travelogues and discovery reports, was enthusiastic about the brave Brits who defied the stormy seas, and began to write himself to encourage even more able English adventurers to explore unknown lands.

In 1613 he wrote Purcas, His Pilgrimage, or Relations of the Vvorld and the Religions both Heathenish and Christian Observed in all Ages and Places into Ffowre Bookes or Volumes Collected by Samuell Purcas, Mynister of Eastwood in Essex (Purcas' Pilgrimage or Tales from of the world and by pagan and Christian religions, everywhere and at all times - in four books or volumes, collected by Samuel Purcas, pastor of Eastwood, Essex). The book dealt with the voyages of English expeditions and reported on religious customs in distant lands. Purchas, who used the older spelling of his family name Purcas for the book , had verifiably interviewed many English adventurers during his business trips to London.

St Martin's Church, Ludgate, London

Samuel Purchas has been accused of merely rewriting previously published books about the expeditions, but his debut work enjoyed some popularity with British readers. In 1614 he was transferred to London as Rector of St. Martin (Ludgate) . He worked on the sequel to Purcas' Pilgrimage and in his spare time he discussed their experiences with adventurers and sailors in London's pubs . Here he also met Richard Hakluyt , a churchman and writer who was also enthusiastic about expeditions. Unlike Purchas, Hakluyt published the explorers' letters and reports without revision, while Purchas added his own thoughts and theories.

Hakluyt died in 1616, leaving Purchas with his extensive research material. Around 1625, Purchas published Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas, His Pilgrimes: Contayning a History of the World, in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells, by Englishmen and Others (Hakluytus posthum or Purchas, Seine Pilgerfahrten: Contains the history of the world with sea and land journeys by Englishmen and others), later referred to as Purchas, his Pilgrimes for short . The work consisted of four voluminous volumes, detailing the travels and adventures of well-known English explorers and merchants, and helping skeptical British merchants to be more willing to invest money in the young colonies of the New World.

Purcha's works were very popular in England. Gradually he received numerous requests from travelers to publish their reports and experiences in subsequent volumes. Purchas achieved some prosperity and enjoyed its fame. Historians, however, criticize many of his accounts as minor adventures by merchants.

In the fall of 1626, a year after his most important publications, Samuel Purchas died at the age of 49. He was buried in the church of his parish, St. Martin's.

After his death, his works were repeatedly reprinted. His collections of research reports are often the only sources of information for historians. Purchas his Pilgrimages is the model for the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge .

Works

  • Purchas: His Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places , (1613) archive.org
  • Purchas: His Pilgrimage. Microcosmus, or the Histories of Man. Relating the Wonders of his Generation, Vanities in his Degeneration, Necessity of his Regeneration , (1619).
  • Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas: His Pilgrimes, Contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells, by Englishmen and Others (4 volumes), (1625). Reprint: J. MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow (1905-1907).
  • Purchas: The Description of the Country of Mawooshen, Discovered by the English in the Yeere 1603,4,5,6,7,, 8 and 9. (1625). Reprint: J. MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow (1905-1907).

literature

Web links

Commons : Samuel Purchas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Purchas, Samuel . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 22 : Poll - Reeves . London 1911, p. 659 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
  2. ↑ a b c Bruce G. Trigger (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 15: Northeast , p. 866. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1978, ISBN 0-16-004575-4
  3. ↑ a b c Samuel Purchas. Mariner's Museum
personal data
SURNAME Purchas, Samuel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman and writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1577
PLACE OF BIRTH Thaxted , Essex
DATE OF DEATH 1626
Place of death London