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Secondary sourceBook1625

Purchas his Pilgrimes

Samuel Purchas · 1625

A 1625 compilation by Samuel Purchas that printed accounts of New England, including reports touching on Squanto's return voyage.

This 1625 compilation printed the earliest English reports describing Squanto's return voyage to New England.

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Engraved title page of Purchas his Pilgrimes. Central text block reads Haklvytvs Posthumus or Purchas his Pilgrimes. Surrounding are rows of small oval portrait medallions, a large central portrait of Samuel Purchas, two hemispherical world maps, and allegorical engravings including a royal tomb scene and a ship scene. Imprint at bottom reads Imprinted at London.
Samuel Purchas, title page of Purchas his Pilgrimes, 1625 (some copies dated 1624).

About this source

What it is

Purchas his Pilgrimes is a four-volume collection of travel accounts compiled by Samuel Purchas and printed in 1625. It gathered reports from explorers and settlers, including accounts from Dermer and Smith describing New England.

Why it matters

This book was one of the main ways English readers first learned about the journeys and voyages connected to Tisquantum (Squanto), who helped the Pilgrims after returning to his homeland. It shows how information about Native individuals and the New World reached the English public through compiled travel writing rather than direct testimony.

Look closer

  • Why might a compiler like Purchas choose to include some travelers' reports and not others?
  • What does the elaborate engraved title page suggest about how this book was meant to be seen by readers?
  • Whose voice is missing from a book like this, compiled by an Englishman from English travelers' accounts?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Tisquantum (Squanto) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Edward Winslow · 1624

Engraved title page of The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles by John Smith, 1626 edition. Portraits of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I in ovals above a map of the coast, with a central text block, coats of arms, and figures in landscapes below.Book

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The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles

John Smith · 1624

Title page of 'A Description of New England' printed in London in 1616 by Humfrey Lownes for Robert Clerke. The title mentions Captain John Smith, Admirall of that Country, the year 1614, five ships, and French men of warre. A decorative ornamental band appears in the middle, and the imprint at the bottom reads 'At London' and 'Lodge in Chancery lane, ouer against Lincolnes Inne. 1616.'Book

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A Description of New England

John Smith · 1616

Painting of a group of 17th-century European men and a woman in a low, timber-beamed room gathered around a wooden table on which a large paper lies. Men in hats and ruffs look on; a seated bearded man in a black hat watches; a woman in a white cap stands at right knitting.Document

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Mayflower Compact

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