Historia general y natural de las Indias, islas y tierra firme del mar océano

$4,000 · Offered by Book Collector Inc

Author: Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (1478-1557) Year: 1851-1855 Publisher: Imprenta de la real Audiencia de la Historia Place: Madrid Description: Four volumes: cxii+632,[1] page with five plates; vii+511+[2 errata] pages with three plates (two of which are folding maps); viii+651+[2] pages two plates (of which one is a map); viii+619+[1 errata] pages plus five plates (of which one is a color folding map). Folio (13" x 9 1/2") bound in full leather with gilt lettering to spine. (Palau 89532; Graff 3147; Howes O159 ("b"); Sabin 57990) First complete edition. Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes was a Spanish historian and writer who united a classical humanistic education with extensive experience in the New World. As a youth he entered the service of Alphonso of Aragon, nephew of Ferdinand the Catholic and soon afterward he became a page of Prince John, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella. Throughout his life he retained close contacts with the royal court. He was present at the return of Christopher Columbus in 1493. He traveled and studied in Italy. He went to the New World in 1514 in the expedition of Padrarias Davila as supervisor of gold smelting. During his life he held many offices in the New World--regidor of Nuestra Senora de la Antigua, governor o Cartagena, regidor and alcalde o the fortress of Santo Domingo--and he crossed the ocean a dozen times. Oviedo's humanistic curiosity led him to note down the novelties of the land, nature, and peoples of the New Wo

• Binding: Hardcover

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