Exploration, Finance & Trade

This pamphlet addresses the relationship between Bristol and America, charting the rising and waning interest the city and its merchants had in discovering new lands and profiting from them, and the success or more often the failure of these voyages. It provides an interesting argument which may be seen to go against the historical consensus of the importance attributed to Bristol. The pamphlet roughly spans a period of 150 years, beginning with the unsuccessful attempt to find the "Isle of Brasil" by John Jay junior in 1480 and ending with the equally unsuccessful attempt of Thomas James to find a north-west passage in 1631. Anyone with an interest in the history of Bristol, the nature of mid-20^th century exploration and the crucial role finance played in it, or the events of notable individual expeditions such as John Cabot's would enjoy this pamphlet.