Samuel Purchas facts for kids
Samuel Purchas (c. 1577 – 1626) was an English church leader. He published many books filled with exciting stories from travelers who explored faraway lands. He helped people in England learn about the world without ever leaving home!
Contents
Samuel Purchas's Life and Work
Early Life and Learning
Samuel Purchas was born in a town called Thaxted in Essex. His father was a farmer. Samuel went to St John's College, Cambridge, and finished his studies in 1600.
In 1604, King James I gave him a job as a vicar at St. Laurence and All Saints church in Eastwood, Essex.
Eastwood was close to Leigh-on-Sea. This was a busy port town where many sailors lived. Even though Purchas never traveled far from his hometown, he listened to the amazing stories of these sailors. They told him about their journeys to distant places. He added these stories to a huge collection of writings. These writings were given to him by another famous travel writer, Richard Hakluyt.
In 1614, Purchas became a chaplain for Archbishop George Abbot. He also became the rector of St Martin, Ludgate, in London. He earned a special degree in divinity. This allowed him to join Oxford University in 1615.
His Famous Books
In 1614, Samuel Purchas published his first big book. It was called Purchas His Pilgrimage: or Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places discovered, from the Creation unto this Present.
This book aimed to show the amazing variety of God's creation. It shared short versions of travel stories. He later published these stories in full. The book became very popular right away. It was printed four times between 1613 and 1626, the year he died.
His second book came out in 1619. It was titled Purchas his Pilgrim or Microcosmus, or the Historie of Man. This book talked about human life and its wonders.
In 1625, Purchas released his most important work. It was a huge four-volume collection called Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrimes. This collection continued the work of Richard Hakluyt. Hakluyt had passed away in 1616 and left many of his writings to Purchas.
The Pilgrimes book was not perfectly organized. But it covered many different parts of the world:
- Volume I looked at ancient kings, like Solomon. It shared stories of sailing around Africa to places like the East Indies, China, and Japan.
- Volume II focused on Africa, Palestine, Persia, and Arabia.
- Volume III told the history of journeys through the North-East and North-West passages. It also summarized travels to Tartary, Russia, and China.
- Volume IV was all about America and the West Indies.
The fourth edition of his first book, Pilgrimage, came out in 1626. People often think it's the fifth volume of the Pilgrimes. However, the two works are actually different. Purchas himself explained the difference:
These books, though they sound similar, are different. My Pilgrimage is my own work, even if I used other people's ideas. My Pilgrimes, however, are the actual words of the travelers themselves. I just helped organize them.
Later Life and Legacy
Samuel Purchas passed away in September or October 1626. Some people say he faced financial troubles because of his huge writing projects. Others believe he was helped by important people, like the Bishop of London. This support gave him a good job in London. Moving to London also helped him find more information for his research.
None of his works were printed again until 1905. That's when the Pilgrimes was reissued in Glasgow.
As an editor, Purchas sometimes made mistakes. He could be careless or even change things. But his collections are still very valuable. They are often the only source of information about important explorations.
His choices as an editor and his comments show his main goal. He wanted to teach and inform readers about the world. He also wanted to share foreign cultures and ideas about right and wrong. This was different from Hakluyt's goal, which was to inspire people to explore.
Purchas his Pilgrimes even inspired the famous poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A note in Coleridge's poem explains this. In 1797, Coleridge was reading Purchas's book. He fell asleep while reading about a grand palace built by Kublai Khan in a place called Xaindu. This dream inspired his poem.
Writings
Here are Samuel Purchas's main books:
- Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in All Ages Discouered, from the Creation unto This Present (1st edition, 1613; 2nd edition, 1614).
- Purchas, his Pilgrim. Microcosmus, or the historie of Man. Relating the wonders of his Generation, vanities in his Degeneration, Necessity of his Regeneration (1619).
- Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes, contayning a History of the World in Sea Voyages and Lande Travells, by Englishmen and others (4 volumes, 1625). This was reprinted in 1905–1907 in 20 volumes.
See also
- Turtles all the way down
