Vargas Machuca, Bernardo de:

$22,500 · Offered by William Reese Company

MILICIA Y DESCRIPCION DE LAS INDIAS. One of the most important Spanish works on the Indies and New World military organization in the 16th century. It is a tactical manual by a Spanish veteran of the colonial South American frontier and the brutal wars against indigenous fighters, as well as a rich source of ethnographic and military detail. "The first manual of guerilla warfare ever published....[Vargas Machuca] advocated for the Americas the creation of commando groups to carry out search-and-destroy missions deep within enemy territory for up to two years at a time" - Parker. This work served as both a guide to aid Spanish officers in conquest, as well as a sometimes testy address to King Phillip II detailing Vargas Machuca's many services to the Crown, whom he felt never recognized him adequately for his service. The text is divided into four books, followed by a description of the Indies. The books describe: the qualities needed to lead, the preparation of soldiers and necessary materials, the duty of the soldier, and the settling of the land after conquest. Included are significant chapters on military medicine and natural history, although the real significance lies in the fact that "scattered throughout Milicia Indiana are unwitting fragments of indigenous and rural Spanish colonial history. Perhaps the main gap that this book helps to fill, if only partially, is the story of early and unconquered 'backcountry' New Granada" (Lane).Bernardo Vargas Machuca (ca. 1555-162

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.