Routledge The Purchas Handbook: Samuel Purchas Studies - Vol. 1

The Purchas Handbook provides a comprehensive reference guide to the works of Reverend Samuel Purchas (1577-1626) and critically evaluates his achievements as a collector, editor, and author of travel literature. Following the model of the Society's earlier Hakluyt Handbook, this volume examines Purchas's significance for students across history, geography, anthropology, theology, literature, linguistics, bibliography and natural history. With emphasis on his major work Purchas His Pilgrimes (1625), the Handbook also considers his earlier writings. Volume I, part one presents a narrative exploration of Purchas's life and times, making it an essential resource for scholars studying early modern travel narratives and the development of English geographical knowledge during the Renaissance period.