Martyr, Peter | An important edition by an early and official historian of the Indies

Martyr, Peter

De rebus oceanicis et novo orbe...Et item De rebus Aethiopicis, Indicis, Lusitanicis, & Hispanicis... Cologne: Apud Gervinum Calenium & Haeredes Quentelios, 1574

8vo. Decorative woodcut initials; a few contemporary notations in text. Early-19th-century paper boards, gilt leather label; ownership inscription and notations on front endpapers.

An important edition

Besides all of the chronicles (Martyr wrote as official historian of the Indies from 1511 to 1534), this edition adds two important works: Martyr's 1521 Basel letter, which contains the text of the lost first Cortés letter describing his initial landing and forays into Mexico; and Damiao de Goes' work, originally published in 1544, included by Harrisse in Additions (144).

The most accessible edition of one of the foundational works of New World history.

REFERENCE

Sabin 1558; European Americana 574/1; Medina 235; Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection 2; Bell A214; JCB (3)I:253