The Golden Fleece Divided into three Parts, Under which are discovered the Errours of Religion, the Vices and Decayes of the Kingdome, and lastly the wayes to get wealth, and to restore Trading.Transported From Cambrioll Colchos, out of the Southernmost Part of the Island, commonly called the Newfoundland, by Orpheus Junior…

[VAUGHAN, Sir William] [1577-1641].

Published by London: Printed [by W.Stansby, M.Fletcher & one other] for Francis Williams, 1626., 1626

About this Item

3 Parts in 1. small 4to. pp. 14 p.l., 149, [1]blank, 105, [1]blank, 96. woodcut headpiece & initials. lacking the folding engraved map by John Mason which is frequently wanting. handsomely bound in full gilt-paneled vellum antique, overlapping fore-edges (washed, V1-2 have been remargined and are evidently supplied from another copy, light soiling to outer leaves, overall a fine copy). First Edition. William Vaughan [1575-1641], Welsh scholar and poet, was an important figure in the early colonization of Newfoundland. In 1616 he purchased part of the colonization grant in Newfoundland held by the London and Bristol Company, obtaining a parcel of land lying in the southern part of the Avalon peninsula and including the harbours of Ferryland, Fermeuse, and Renewse. He christened his land Cambriol, hoping to found a new Wales in the New World. In 1617 he despatched his first Welsh colonists to Renewse; more followed in 1618 with Richard Whitbourne, whom Vaughan had appointed to act as governor. Unfortunately the venture collapsed the following year and Vaughan was forced to assign part of his grant, but in 1621 or 1622 he made a second attempt to establish a colony at Trepassey Bay. The present work, a curious mixture of verse, fable, and fact, was written to promote interest in the new colony. The fantastic plan for the book, in which a succession of historical characters present their grievances and appeals for justice before the god Apollo, was borrowed by Vaughan from Boccalini's Ragguagli di Parnaso, a translation of which Vaughan published the same year. According to the DNB, Vaughan was in Newfoundland when he actually wrote the Golden Fleece (1622-25), making this "among the earliest contributions to English literature in America". However, Gillian Cell (DCB) disputes this, finding no conclusive evidence to prove that Vaughan ever visited Newfoundland. ".The book, partly in verse, is an allegory with many references to his colony, to Whitbourne, his governor there from 1618-1619, and to John Guy and John Mason.In the third part the 'golden fleece' is described as 'the way to get wealth' by one main trade: the plantation and fishery of Newfoundland.". (O'Dea) ".an extraordinary work, in vivid contrast to the more prosaic and practical propagandist tracts on Newfoundland which Whitbourne and Mason had written.". (Gillian Cell, DCB) Alden 626/143. Arents 161-A. Baer 12. Bell V36. Church 409. JCB II p. 204. Lande S2269. O'Dea 62. Sabin 98693. STC 24609. TPL 6302 (lacking map). DCB I pp. 654-56. Winsor VIII pp. 188-90.

Seller Inventory # elala1241

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Golden Fleece Divided into three Parts, Under which are discovered the Errours of Religion, the Vices and Decayes of the Kingdome, and lastly the wayes to get wealth, and to restore Trading.Transported From Cambrioll Colchos, out of the Southernmost Part of the Island, commonly called the Newfoundland, by Orpheus Junior…
• Publisher: London: Printed [by W.Stansby, M.Fletcher & one other] for Francis Williams, 1626.
• Publication Date: 1626
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Canadiana/Americana