There is only one place to commence a discussion of the translation, compilation and presentation of materials from history, geography, travellers’ tales, letters and other documentary sources, and that is with Richard Hakluyt. His unsurpassed reputation as a collector, translator and editor was laid, and has been maintained throughout history, by three works of increasing scope and size. The first, Divers Voyages (1582), was conceived with the general intention of promoting overseas expansion in fulfilment of the ultimate object of colonisation. It was probably intended specifically to gain support for a proposed voyage by Humphrey Gilbert to North America. Granted these aims, one would be correct to assume that Peru does not figure directly in the text. In the present context, we simply need to recognise its significance for our understanding of the growth of English interest overseas at the time of its publication, especially the preoccupation with a North-West passage to Cathay and proposals for colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America. However, the highly desirable commodities expected to be found in North America, particularly the precious metals already so avidly sought by Martin Frobisher, would soon become a major motivation for interest in the South Sea. The work also contained Michael Lok's map of North America, the first to show Drake's visit to California after sailing along the coasts of Peru and New Spain.

By the time that the first, single volume edition of the Principal Navigations appeared in 1589, Hakluyt was able to include in this intended record of all English voyages and travels, the entry of his fellow countrymen into waters off the shores of Peru, namely John Oxenham into the Gulf of Panama in 1577, followed by Drake and Thomas Cavendish during their respective circumnavigations in 1577–80 and 1586–88. When each of the three sections of this original work became a separate volume in the much expanded, definitive edition a decade later, Hakluyt could extend coverage of the South Sea, and hence of Peru, to include narratives other than those written by Englishmen. Although, despite this enlargement and despite the pamphlet written by him on the colonisation of the Straits of Magellan which we shall come to later, it is probably fair to say that Hakluyt's main concern in respect of the South Sea was directed towards its significance as a maritime route leading to the East Indies and above all to Cathay.