Hammock. Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y
Valdés. La Historia general y natural de las Indias...Seville, 1535. Oviedo sailed
in 1514 on his first of many journeys to America, where for over
thirty years he compiled detailed ethnographic descriptions of
such an innumerable list of products and goods, peoples and
customs that he found it "almost impossible to write...given the
abundance of ideas that come to mind." He introduced Europe to
an enormous variety of previously unheard of American exotica,
including the pineapple, the canoe, smoking tobacco, the manatee,
and the hammock. Along with Peter Martyr Anglerius and
Bartolomé de Las Casas, Oviedo was one of the first European
"chroniclers of the Indies." The Library of Congress acquired
this rare autographed copy of Historia in 1867. (Rare Book and
Special Collections Division)
Oviedo partió en 1514 en el primero de sus numerosos viajes a América, dónde por más de treinta
años compiló descripciones etnográficas de productos, cosas, gentes y costumbres en tal cantidad
que a él ya le parecía "casi imposible de escribir... debido a la abundacia de ideas que vienen a la
mente." El introdujo a Europa a una variada gama de productos exóticos americanos nunca antes
vistos como la piña, la canoa, el tabaco, la manatí y la hamaca. Al mismo que Pedro Mártir de
Angleria, Bartolomé de Las Casas, Oviedo fue uno de los primeros cronistas europeos de las
Indias. La Biblioteca del Congreso adquirió esta rara copia autografiada en 1867.(Rare Book and
Special Collections Division)
Library of
Congress
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(05/23/00)
Hammock. Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y
Valdés. La Historia general y natural de las Indias...Seville, 1535. Oviedo sailed
in 1514 on his first of many journeys to America, where for over
thirty years he compiled detailed ethnographic descriptions of
such an innumerable list of products and goods, peoples and
customs that he found it "almost impossible to write...given the
abundance of ideas that come to mind." He introduced Europe to
an enormous variety of previously unheard of American exotica,
including the pineapple, the canoe, smoking tobacco, the manatee,
and the hammock. Along with Peter Martyr Anglerius and
Bartolomé de Las Casas, Oviedo was one of the first European
"chroniclers of the Indies." The Library of Congress acquired
this rare autographed copy of Historia in 1867. (Rare Book and
Special Collections Division)