Enciso, Martín Fernández de:

$300,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

SUMA DE GEOGRAPHIA Q[UE] TRATA DE TODAS LAS PARTIDAS & PROVINCIAS DEK MUNDO: EN ESPECIAL DE LAS INDIAS, & TRATA LARGAME[NT]E DEL ARTE DEL MARE. From the collection of R. David Parsons. A work of surpassing importance, the first edition of the first practical guide to sailing in American waters, the first navigational manual printed in Spain, and the first book printed in Spanish relating to America. This historical account by a participant is the foundation for any collection on navigation to the New World.Martín Fernández de Enciso (ca. 1470-1528), geographer and conquistador, was a native of Seville, and would have been aware of the details of the earliest voyages to the Indies as a young man. Although he probably emigrated sooner, he can be definitively placed on Hispaniola by 1508, by that time well established as a lawyer and trader. In 1509 and 1510, Enciso joined expeditions of Alonso de Hojeda along the north coast of South America and thence to Panama (it was on this expedition that Balboa first saw the Pacific). He continued to be involved in the Spanish conquest of the area, and served as an aide to the first governor there in 1514. Sometime after this he returned to Spain, publishing the Suma in 1519.Enciso was the first writer to narrate the history and navigation of the New World based on broad personal experience of himself and others. Columbus and Vespucci had briefly told the story of their coastal voyages, and in 1516 Peter Martyr had published the first of

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