‘Honour to our Nation' 1

Both editions of Richard Hakluyt’s The Principal Navigations were published for the ‘benefit and honour’ of the nation and exemplify Benedict Anderson’s observation that print culture played an essential role in the spread of nationalism. ² Although modern literary critics, historians, and sociologists disagree about the timing of the rise and spread of English nationalism, they concur that the long eighteenth century was a seminal period in its development. ³ The writings of those who engaged in the activities which founded the second British Empire significantly contributed to this sense of national betterment and esteem. As Katherine Turner observes, ‘the rise of British nationalism corresponded to the great age of published peregrinations’. ⁴