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Manuscript/Mixed Material Autograph letter signed, in Latin. To Abraham Ortelius

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About this Item

Title

  • Autograph letter signed, in Latin. To Abraham Ortelius

Summary

  • This letter is one of the most exciting pieces in the famous correspondence between the greatest cartographer and the leading map publisher of Sir Francis Drake's day, whose productions Drake almost certainly used himself. It speculates on the possible connection between Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe (completed about ten weeks before this letter was written) and the secret voyage of Arthur Pett and Charles Jackman in search of the North East Passage, which had left England in June. By the time of their departure nothing since the return of Drake's subordinate John Winter in the Elizabeth from the Strait of Magellan had been heard of Drake's expedition, save threatening reports from Spain of heavy losses of treasure on the Pacific coast of America. Fears for Drake were mounting, and it was thought that if it was as easy to reach the Pacific by the North East Passage as some people supposed, Pett and Jackman could search for Drake by that route.

Names

  • Mercator, Gerhard, 1512-1594
  • Hans and Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • December 12, 1580

Headings

  • -  Mercator, Gerhard,--1512-1594
  • -  Ortelius, Abraham,--1527-1598
  • -  Discoveries in geography--English
  • -  Voyages around the world

Genre

  • Early maps

Notes

  • -  Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress website.
  • -  Description based on Global Gateway metadata.
  • -  drakenew

Medium

  • 1 sheet ; Folio (310 x 240 mm.)

Repository

  • Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.rbc/rbc.home

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021699424

Online Format

  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The contents of the Library of the Sir Francis Drake Collection have no known copyright restrictions and are free to use and reuse.

More about Copyright and other Restrictions.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Credit Line: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Mercator, Gerhard, and Hans And Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection. Autograph letter signed, in Latin. To Abraham Ortelius. 1580. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021699424/.

APA citation style:

Mercator, G. & Hans And Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection. (1580) Autograph letter signed, in Latin. To Abraham Ortelius. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021699424/.

MLA citation style:

Mercator, Gerhard, and Hans And Hanni Kraus Sir Francis Drake Collection. Autograph letter signed, in Latin. To Abraham Ortelius. 1580. Manuscript/Mixed Material. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021699424/>.