In 1586, then in Paris, he had published, at his own expense, a manuscript account of Florida, written after the explorations of the French navigators Ribault and Laudonnière, in 1562–1564, and the attempted planting of Huguenot colonies there, ending tragically in a massacre by Spaniards. This manuscript he had come upon in archives, where it had lain hidden for above twenty years, “suppressed,” as he averred, “by the malice of some too much affectioned to the Spanish cause.” The narrative was brought out in French, edited by a friend and fellow scholar, Martin Basanière, a professor of mathematics, and dedicated by the editor to Raleigh with high praise for his efforts to open the Western country. The following year Hakluyt issued in London an English translation of this book under the enticing title, _A Notable Historie containing four Voyages made by certayne French captaynes into Florida, wherein the Great Riches and Fruitfulness of the country with the Maners of the people, hitherto concealed, are brought to light_; and to this edition he prefixed his own “Epistle Dedicatorie” to Raleigh, encouraging him, undismayed by previous failure, in the good work of Virginia colonization, which must ultimately prosper as these French captains’ exposition of the advantages and resources of the region demonstrated. The same year, 1587, again in Paris, he published, also dedicated to Raleigh, and accompanied by a rare map, a revised edition in Latin of _De Orbe Novo_, the work of the Italian historian, Peter Martyr, giving the history of the first thirty years of American discovery. Next, in 1589, appeared the first volume of the magnum opus of our author, under the general title of _The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoueries of the English Nation made by Sea or over Land to the most remote and farthest distant Quarters of the Earth at any time within the compasse of these 1500 years_—an elaborate work of which the _Divers Voyages_ was the germ, having the same direct object in view. Its scheme embraced a collection, in three volumes, of narratives and records, in the original, of voyages and discoveries made by Englishmen from earliest times to the compiler’s day, sprinkled with accounts of the more important explorations for foreign nations having relation to those for England. The initial volume opened with an extended “Epistle Dedicatorie” addressed to Sir Francis Walsingham, the queen’s chief secretary, and a more detailed “Preface to the Favourable Reader.” It included the main part of the _Divers Voyages_.