The History of Travayle in the West and East Indies, and other countreys lying eyther way, towards the fruitfull and ryche Moluccas. As Moscovia, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Aegypte, Ethiopia, Guinea, China in Cathayo, and Giapan: With a discourse of the Northwest passage.... Gathered in parte, and done into Englyshe by Richard Eden. Newly set in order, augmented, and finished by Richard Willes

London: Richard Jugge, 1577. SECOND EDITION, GREATLY EXPANDED. Hardcover. Fine. A fine, complete copy in 18th c. calfskin, rebacked, with some wear at the board edges. Title page lightly soiled, the outer corner and lower margin a bit ragged, a few light marginal stains in the text, some text on p 30 lightly printed. Light damp-staining at the beginning of the volume, heavier in gatherings B and C; small marginal wormhole to first 5 and last 2 leaves. Scattered light finger-soiling; last leaf verso soiled and lightly foxed. Text printed in black letter; woodcut illustrated initials. Illustrated with a woodcut of the South Pole showing "the order of the starres about the pole Antartike" on folio 436 verso. Provenance: bookplate of Thomas Pennant, 1726-1798, Welsh naturalist and travel writer. Complete copies are rare, especially in early bindings. The second (and best) edition of Richard Eden's translation of the first four books of Peter Martire d'Anghiera's "De Orbe Novo"(On the New World), only the third book in English to describe the Americas, here revised and greatly expanded by Richard Willes, who translated the remaining parts of d'Anghiera's original and added numerous additional travel accounts from the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The book, with its accounts of the voyages and travels of Columbus and Magellan, and Cortes' conquest of Mexico, ignited English interest in exploration and colonization. The account of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe is the first in English (as is the description of Japan). Among the other accounts are Frobisher's search for the Northwest Passage, travels to Persia by English merchants, and Ludovico de Varthema's travels to the Middle East and India in 1502-1507. Shakespeare likely derived the name of Setebos, the unseen god in "The Tempest", from Willes's translation of Magellan's account of the Tehuelche people of Patagonia.

Peter Martyr occupied a position of unrivalled authority among the early historians of exploration. A member and official Chronicler of Charles V's Council of the Indies (Consejo de Indias), he knew Columbus and had direct access to the original documents of his voyage, as well as access to the documents from the voyages of da Gama, Cortés, Magellan, Cabot, and Vespucci. His "De Orbe Novo Decades", the first part of which was published in Latin at Alcalá in 1516, drew on this exceptional proximity to produce the first systematic history of the Americas. His works were "held in the highest esteem by his contemporaries and are indispensable as a primary source for the history of early European exploration of the Americas." (Hill)

Richard Eden's translation of the first three Decades (and an abridgment of the fourth), published in 1555 as "The Decades of the Newe World", was a landmark in English publishing history. It made detailed knowledge of the New World available to English readers for the first time, contained the first publication in English of Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe, and helped to create a robust appetite for voyages of discovery among the English. Eden's "translations of the geographic works of other writers helped foster a spirit of overseas exploration in Tudor England. The new protector, the Earl of Northumberland, wished to challenge Spain's global empire and he encouraged publications that would help encourage such enterprise" (Hadfield). Eden was "the pioneer of British geographic research, the very first of our naval chroniclers, and the herald and forerunner of all our subsequent discoveries". (Arber)

Following Eden's death in 1576, Willes undertook a thorough revision and vast expansion of the work, transforming the compilation into a comprehensive survey of the known world. In his preface, Willes explains that Eden had intended to augment his earlier translations "by putting thereunto in English Ludovico de Varthema's navigation into Egypt, Arabia, Siria, Persia, and India, with our Merchantes, Muscovian and Persian travelles: but death prevented his purpose." Willes reorganized the book to make it easier to follow, cut away superfluous translations, filled gaps with Martyr's other writings, and fulfilled Eden's wishes with his own translations.

The volume is organized into four parts. The first part contains the first four Decades of Peter Martyr, together with Oviedo's history of the West Indian navigation and accounts of New Spain (Mexico, Peru, Rio de la Plata), the lands of Labrador and Baccalaos, and the discovery of Florida. The second part presents Frobisher's attempt to find the Northwest Passage together with accounts of China, Japan, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

The third part describes travels to northern Europe, including Russia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Iceland, Lapland, and the Baltic Sea, drawn from the writings of Jacob Ziegler, Paulo Giovio, Hayton of Corycus, and Baron Sigismund Freiherr. Willes includes accounts of certain London merchants' travels through Russia into Persia, "describing the resources, customs of the people, and trade authorized by the Shah."

The fourth part sets down the merchants' voyages into Guinea and southeastern Africa, and Varthema's travels into Egypt, Ethiopia, Arabia, Syria, Persia, and East India. The account of Magellan's circumnavigation is drawn from Maximilian Transylvanus' letter to the Cardinal of Salzburg and from Martyr's other works. The book concludes with the abridgment of Martyr's last four Decades, "wherein especially that noble and glorious conquest of Mexico is written."

"Eden and Willes were the precursors of Hakluyt, and lived in a time when many seamen were leaving British ports to penetrate the mysteries of the unknown world" (Cambridge History). Both editions have long been considered crucial to the history of English exploration and to the ideological formation of England's imperial ambitions; the second edition, with its extensive material on Asia, the Northwest Passage, and the wider world, is regarded as the more important and influential of the two.