Cortés, Hernan: Pietro Martire d'Anghiera [Peter Martyr]:

$650,000 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

PRAECLARA FERDINA[N]DI. CORTESII DE NOVA MARIS OCEANI HYSPANIA NARRATIO SACRATISSIMO AC INUICTISSIMA CAROLO ROMANORU[M] IMPERATORI SEMPER AUGUSTO, HYSPNIARU[M] & C REGI ANNO DOMINII M.D.XX. [bound ... From the collection of R. David Parsons. The first Latin editions of Cortés' second and third letters, complete with the exceedingly rare map, which constitutes the first plan of an American city and a landmark mapping of the Gulf of Mexico. The text is the first major announcement of the discovery of major civilizations in the New World, and as such is a work of surpassing importance. This volume has been expanded into an extensive contemporary account of the Spanish conquest of New Spain by the addition of Peter Martyr's De Rebus, et Insulis Noviter Repertis a Sireniss, often considered a stand-in for the lost first letter of Cortés, and the highly scarce first Latin edition of Cortés' third letter.Cortés' second letter, dated October 30, 1520, provides a vivid account of the people he encountered en route to Tenochtitlan, painting a picture of an impressive empire centered around a great city. He relates his conflict with rival Velazquez and gives a wonderful description of the buildings, institutions, and court at Tenochtitlan. It is here that Cortés provides a definitive name for the country, calling it "New Spain of the Ocean Sea." This letter is also important for making reference to Cortés' lost first letter, supposedly composed at Vera Cruz on July 10, 1520. Whether tha

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