Enciso, Martín Fernandez de:

$175,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

SUMA DE GEOGRAPHIA Q[UE] TRATA DE TODAS LAS PARTIDAS Y PROVINCIAS DEL MUNDO: EN ESPECIAL DE LAS INDIAS. Y TRATA LARGEMENTE DEL ARTE DEL MAREAR.... The third edition, with additions, of a work of surpassing importance, comprising at once 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. It is also the first account of explorations of the Americas based on extended experiences. This book is an important cornerstone for any serious collection on sailing and navigation to the New World.Martín Fernández de Enciso (ca. 1470-ca. 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 went earlier, he can be definitely placed, well established as a lawyer and trader, in Hispaniola by 1508. In 1509 and 1510, Enciso joined expeditions of Alonso de Hojeda along the north coast of South America and then 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 aid to the first governor there, a position he occupied in 1514. Sometime after this he returned to Spain, and published the SUMA DE GEOGRAPHIA 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 V

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