ZARATE, Augustin de.

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Historia del descubrimiento y conquista de las provincias del Peru, Scarce second Spanish edition of one of the first and best accounts of the history and conquest of Peru, following the original edition of 1555. Agustín de Zárate was contador general de cuentas at the court of Castile, and was sent by Philip II to audit the Royal Treasury and tax collection process in Peru. He sailed with Viceroy Blasco Nuñez Vela in 1543, and remained in the New World until 1546. During his time in Peru, he was eyewitness to the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, wherein he was charged with delivering the order for Pizarro to disband his army. In order to avoid execution by Pizarro's men, he instead offered to return to Cuzco and relay their demands to the government, proffering his own recommendation on behalf of the rebel general. Upon his return to Spain (after another near-miss execution once his role in the rebellion became known), Zárate compiled his careful notes to write a history of Peru from the first arrival of Francisco Pizarro through the year 1550.In addition to a chronicle of events, the first book of Zárate's history is devoted to a discussion of the appearance, customs, and history of the Inca people. This 1577 edition is actually somewhat censored from the 1555 first edition, removing part of the discussion of Incan religion (particularly where it appeared to align too closely with Christianity), and smoothing over his involvement with Pizarro. The Historia was an immediate and

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