Sir Francis Drake, English explorer and naval strategist, circumnavigated the globe from 1577 to 1580, during the reign of Elizabeth Tudor, who became queen of England in 1558. During these travels, Drake visited the Caribbean and the Pacific, claiming a portion of California for Queen Elizabeth and waging battles on the Spanish. His voyages revealed significant new geographical information about the New World and added greatly to Queen Elizabeth's treasury.

The Library of Congress has just released a collection online of important materials that document Drake's travels. The presentation, "The Kraus Collection of Sir Francis Drake," is available from the Global Gateway Web site.

The Kraus Collection comprises important materials related to Drake's voyages throughout the then Spanish territory of the Americas. It consists of 60 items -- 16 manuscripts, 29 books, eight maps and views, and seven medals and portraits. The materials range from 1579 to 1765.

Hans Peter Kraus, one of the foremost booksellers of the second half of the 20th century, and his wife, Hanni, assembled the collection. Born in Austria in 1907, Hans Peter Kraus exhibited a love of collecting from an early age. In 1939, during the Nazi occupation, he fled Austria for the United States. Within two weeks of his arrival in New York, Kraus met Hanni, his future wife and business partner. The couple established an antiquarian bookselling firm, H.P. Kraus Inc., in the early 1940s and did not close this legendary company until Hans Peter's death in 1988.

Hans and Hanni Kraus generously donated their collection of Drake materials to the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress in 1980.