The Hakluyt Society, established in 1846, has for its object the printing of rare and valuable Voyages, Travels, Naval Expeditions, and other geographical records. Books of this class are of the highest interest to students of history, geography, navigation, and ethnology; and many of them, especially the original narratives and translations of the Elizabethan and Stuart periods, are admirable examples of English prose at the stage of its most robust development.
The Society has not confined its selection to the books of English travellers, to a particular age, or to particular regions. Where the original is foreign, the work is given in English, fresh translations being made, except where it is possible to utilise the spirited renderings of the sixteenth or seventeenth century. The works selected for reproduction are printed (with rare exceptions) at full length. Each volume is placed in the charge of an editor especially competent—in many cases from personal acquaintance with the countries described—to give the reader such assistance as he needs for the elucidation of the text. As these editorial services are rendered gratuitously, the whole of the amount received from subscribers is expended in the preparation of the Society's publications.
One hundred volumes (forming Series I., see pages [iva. to xiva.]) were issued from 1846 to 1898; forty-two volumes of Series II. (see pages [xva. to xviiia.]) have been issued in the nineteen years ending 1917. A brief index to these is given on pages [xxia. to xxviia.], and a list of works in preparation on page [xxa].
The Annual Subscription of One Guinea—entitling the member to the year's publications—is due on January 1, and may be paid to
Messrs. Barclay and Co., 1, Pall Mall East, London, S. W. 1.;
The Guaranty Trust Co., 140, Broadway, New York.
Members have the sole privilege of purchasing back or current issues of the Society; these tend to rise in value, and those which are out of print are now only to be obtained at high prices.
The present scale of charges is as follows:—