Hakluyt, Richard

Hakluyt, Richard (b. near London, England, ca. 1552; d. Westminster, Middlesex, England, 23 November 1616) He was an Oxford professor who became the leading visionary for English exploration and colonization across the Atlantic. In 1582 he published Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America (an account of other nations’ explorations) and in 1584 he drafted the manuscript “A Discourse of Western Planting” for Elizabeth I at Sir Walter Raleigh’s suggestion. In 1588 he published The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation.