Sir Walter Raleigh: In Life & Legend (2 page)

4. Lady Ralegh (Bess).

5. Queen Elizabeth, probably painted by George Gower to commemorate the defeat of the Armada, 1588. This version has been cut down. Scenes of English fire-ships are visible in other versions.

6. Sir Robert Cecil, painted by John de Critz, 1602.

7. Ralegh's Chart of Guiana, drawn 1595/6, shortly after his return. The Chart is south-facing, with the coast of Guiana at the bottom. The object like a centipede in the centre is the imagined lake-city of'Manoa', lying between the Orinoco and the snake-like Amazon above it.

8. John White's map of the East coast of America, 1585/6. It has been shown to be remarkably accurate.

9. John White's water-colour of the village of Secoton on the mainland. Corn has been sown; all looks peaceful and orderly.

11. Ralegh's meeting on the Orinoco with Topiawari, pictured with some licence in de Bry's America. Ralegh looks remarkably composed for a man who has spent a month in an open boat.

12. Sherborne Castle: a water-colour reconstruction by J. H. P. Gibb, 1988. The towers were added after Ralegh's time.

13. The Tower of London, engraved by Haiwarde and Gascoyne, 1597. The Bloody Tower is denoted by the figure 'T' to the left of the Inner Gate.

14. J. E. Millais, 'The Boyhood of Raleigh', 1870. A visible testament to the myth of Ralegh the Discoverer.

15. The Frontispiece to Ralegh's History of the World, rich in symbolism.