Travel from Europe and the Middle East

The early modern period in Europe (roughly 1450–1700) was not only a time of intense exploratory activity but also a time in which a number of editors and collectors strove to collect, organize, and distribute overviews of nonfictional writing about travel. Nationalistic impulses as well as the need for information drove a number of editors between 1550 and 1650 to collect narratives.

Giovanni Ramusio (1485–1557) collected and translated the works in Delle navigationi et viaggi (On navigations and travels) between 1550 and 1559. In this work, he intended to produce a new kind of compendium, an overall survey of important geographical treatises, organized by global region. It contains writing by Leo Africanus, Antonio Pigafetta (who took part in Magellan's circumnavigation), and Amerigo Vespucci, among others.

Richard Hakluyt (c. 1552–1616) compiled, edited, and translated The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation in two editions: 1589 and 1598–1600. Though both editions concentrated on English discoveries, the second edition especially had a larger scope, to provide information for English explorers and traders about all the areas in which they might have interest. Organized both chronologically and regionally, the collection provides a comprehensive look at the history of exploration and trade to the point of publication, insofar as Hakluyt was able to obtain information.

Samuel Purchas, a clergyman originally interested in a universal history of religions told through travel narratives, purchased Richard Hakluyt's literary effects around 1620. From it and his own collecting, Purchas compiled a collection called Hakluytus Posthumous, or Purchas his Pilgrimes, in 1625. Though organized in much the same way as Hakluyt's collection, Purchas's editorial methods and aims are quite different. He is interested as much in the edification and educational benefits of travel as he is in accurate information about exotic locations.

The Collectiones peregrinationum in Indiam orientalem et Indiam occidentalem, produced by the de Bry family at Frankfurt (begun by Théodor de Bry, but brought to conclusion by his sons; 1590–1634), enhanced narratives of travel with high-quality engravings.