Chronicling The New
World
Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés
(1478-1557)
La Historia general de las Indias
[N.P]: 1535
Rare Book & Special Collections
Division
Acquired, 1867 (17.3)
|
Gonzalo Oviedo sailed in 1514 on the first of his
many journeys to America, where he compiled detailed descriptions
and woodcut illustrations of products and goods found in the New
World. The Spaniard introduced Europe to an enormous variety of
previously unheard of "exotica," including the pineapple, the
canoe, smoking tobacco, the manatee, and the hammock. Along with
Pedro Mártir de Anglería and Bartolomé de
Las Casas, Oviedo was one of the first European "chroniclers of
the Indies" having written two comprehensive works on America,
including the rare Historia.
Additional Views:
|
Library of Congress
