The letters of Sir Walter Ralegh

"This edition of the letters of Sir Walter Ralegh contains the full text, in the original spelling, with modern punctuation, of all Ralegh's known surviving letters - 230 in all - each one a gem of English prose." "For the first time all the letters have been extensively annotated. The Introduction by Joyce Youings covers the early transcription and printing of the letters, their main content and the handwriting of Ralegh and his clerks." "Ralegh's letters help to reconcile the family man at home on his estate in the West Country with one who is revered, especially in North America, as the founder and inspirer of English overseas settlement. They show him drawn both towards his native West Country, where he was not universally admired, and towards the Court of Westminster where lay the determination of the success or failure of his enterprises."--BOOK JACKET.