Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume contains two narratives about Russia: Of the Russe Common Wealth by Giles Fletcher, Queen Elizabeth's ambassador to the Russian court in 1588, and a transcription of the manuscript account of the travels of Sir Jerome Horsey, who lived in Russia from 1575 to 1591, firstly as an agent of the English Russia Company, and later as a diplomat. Appendices include Horsey's description of the coronation of Tsar Fyodor I in 1584.

Originally published in two volumes in 1908 and 1909, the present work remains the standard edition of the poetical works of Giles Fletcher and his brother Phineas Fletcher. The first volume contains all the extant poems of Giles Fletcher and the undisputed poetical works of Phineas published before 1633. The second volume includes the poems, original or translated, of Phineas Fletcher which appeared in or after that year.