History of the World_, written by Sir
Walter Rawleighe.' Part may be presumed to have been by that time
written, and shown to Prince Henry. Three years passed before actual
publication. Camden fixes that on March 29, 1614. Though it is almost
impossible to think Camden in error, yet, if the story of the perusal of
the manuscript by Serjeant Hoskyns be true, and apply, as has been
presumed, to the period of the Serjeant's imprisonment, the publication
must have been half a year or more later. The later date would also
accord better with a rumour of the suppression of the volume at the
beginning of 1615. The publisher was Walter Burre, of the sign of the
Crane in St. Paul's Churchyard. Burre published several works for Ben
Jonson; and out of that circumstance has been constructed the statement
that Jonson superintended the publication of the History for Ralegh. The
form was that of a massive folio, at a price vaguely put by Alexander
Ross at 'twenty or thirty shillings.' The edition was struck off in two
issues, the errata of the first being corrected in the second. None of
the extant copies of either issue possess a title-page, or contain any
mention of the writer's name. The explanation may be the modesty or the
pride which had led him habitually to neglect the personal glory of
authorship, apprehension of the odium in which his name was held at
Court, or a reason which will be mentioned hereafter. There is an
engraved frontispiece by Renold Elstracke, the most elaborate of its
kind known in English bibliography. A naval battle in the North Atlantic
is depicted, and the course of the river Orinoko, with various
symbolical figures. Ben Jonson's lines point its application. All the
pages of the volume bear the heading, 'The First Part of the History of
the World.'

[Sidenote: _Defects._]

[Sidenote: _Merits._]

For modern readers a defect of the work is the learning, which was the
wonder and admiration of contemporaries. Since Ralegh's time the
historical method, and historical criticism, have been entirely changed.
The mass of historical evidences has been immensely increased, and their
quality is as different as their quantity. Ralegh had studied the
researches of his learned contemporaries. He had expended much thought
on the reconciliation of apparent inconsistencies. From the point of
view of his own time he was successful. Often he satisfied others better
than himself. Thus, he acknowledges with vexation his ina