Richard Henry Major

author

Richard Henry Major

1818–1891

Best known for bringing old voyages and forgotten maps back into view, this 19th-century scholar helped readers rediscover the history of exploration. His work connected the British Museum, the Hakluyt Society, and a wider public fascinated by how the world was charted.

2 Audiobooks

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

by Richard Henry Major

O descobrimento da Australia pelos portuguezes em 1601

O descobrimento da Australia pelos portuguezes em 1601

by Richard Henry Major

About the author

Born in London in 1818, Richard Henry Major became a leading figure in the study of historical geography and exploration. He joined the British Museum in 1844 and spent decades caring for its map collection, later serving as keeper of the newly created Department of Maps and Charts.

He was also closely linked with the Hakluyt Society, serving as its secretary from 1849 to 1858. Through edited volumes, translations, and studies of early travel accounts, he helped preserve and popularize important records of voyages, discovery, and cartography.

Major wrote on subjects including early exploration and the history of Australia, and he was respected by fellow geographers of his day. He died in 1891, but his reputation endures through the documents he edited and the map history he helped bring to a broader audience.