True Reportory
Encyclopedia
True Reportory is the short-title of a 24,000 word narrative of early colonial literature, "A true reportory of the wracke, and redemption of Sir Thomas Gates Knight; vpon, and from the Ilands of the Bermudas: his comming to Virginia, and the estate of that Colonie then, and after, vnder the gouernment of the Lord La Warre, Iuly 15. 1610." The author William Strachey
was a passenger on the Sea Venture
, the flagship
of the supply fleet that sailed to the English colony of Virginia from Plymouth in June 1609. During a hurricane it wrecked off the coast of Bermuda, where the survivors built two pinnace
s, Patience and Deliverance to continue the journey. They arrived in Jamestown
in May 1610 and found the colony suffering from famine and Indian attacks that had reduced the 600 colonists to fewer than 70. "True Reportory" is Strachey's account of these incidents, first published in 1625 in an anthology of new world colonial literature assembled by Samuel Purchas
.
In 2001 Ivor Noël Hume published a much shorter and less literary version of the text transcribed from a manuscript discovered in Bermuda in 1983, which he suggests is a copy of a rough draft that was later revised by Strachey.
Aside from its historical and literary importance, Strachey's narrative has become a subject of scholarly debate because of its alleged influence on Shakespeare's The Tempest
. Since the 19th century it has been generally accepted that one or more of the 1609 Bermuda shipwreck documents must have been a source for Shakespeare's play, and thus was used to establish a terminus a quo
for its date of composition. In the 19th century Sylvester Jourdain's pamphlet, A Discovery of The Barmudas (1609), was proposed as that source, but this was superseded in the early 20th century by the proposal that "True Reportory" was Shakespeare's source because of perceived parallels in language, incident, theme, and imagery. While this theory reflects the current scholarly consensus, it is not universally accepted; some scholars think it a probable but not proven source and some flatly oppose the claim.
William Strachey
William Strachey was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America...
was a passenger on the Sea Venture
Sea Venture
The Sea Venture was a 17th-century English sailing ship, the wrecking of which in Bermuda is widely thought to have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's The Tempest...
, the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the supply fleet that sailed to the English colony of Virginia from Plymouth in June 1609. During a hurricane it wrecked off the coast of Bermuda, where the survivors built two pinnace
Pinnace (ship's boat)
As a ship's boat the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a "tender" for guiding merchant and war vessels. In modern parlance, pinnace has come to mean a boat associated with some kind of larger vessel, that doesn't fit under the launch or lifeboat definitions...
s, Patience and Deliverance to continue the journey. They arrived in Jamestown
Jamestown Settlement
Jamestown Settlement is a name used by the Commonwealth of Virginia's portion of the historical sites and museums at Jamestown. Jamestown was the first successful English settlement on the mainland of North America...
in May 1610 and found the colony suffering from famine and Indian attacks that had reduced the 600 colonists to fewer than 70. "True Reportory" is Strachey's account of these incidents, first published in 1625 in an anthology of new world colonial literature assembled by Samuel Purchas
Samuel Purchas
Samuel Purchas , was an English travel writer, a near-contemporary of Richard Hakluyt.Purchas was born at Thaxted, Essex, and graduated at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1600; later he became a B.D., and with this degree was admitted at Oxford in 1615. In 1604 he was presented by James I to the...
.
In 2001 Ivor Noël Hume published a much shorter and less literary version of the text transcribed from a manuscript discovered in Bermuda in 1983, which he suggests is a copy of a rough draft that was later revised by Strachey.
Aside from its historical and literary importance, Strachey's narrative has become a subject of scholarly debate because of its alleged influence on Shakespeare's The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. Since the 19th century it has been generally accepted that one or more of the 1609 Bermuda shipwreck documents must have been a source for Shakespeare's play, and thus was used to establish a terminus a quo
Terminus post quem
Terminus post quem and terminus ante quem specify approximate dates for events...
for its date of composition. In the 19th century Sylvester Jourdain's pamphlet, A Discovery of The Barmudas (1609), was proposed as that source, but this was superseded in the early 20th century by the proposal that "True Reportory" was Shakespeare's source because of perceived parallels in language, incident, theme, and imagery. While this theory reflects the current scholarly consensus, it is not universally accepted; some scholars think it a probable but not proven source and some flatly oppose the claim.