Hernan Cortés. La preclara narratione di Ferdinando Cortese della nuova hispagna. Venetia: Bernardino de Viano de Lexona Vercellese, 1524.
Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, Cortés conquered Mexico between 1519 and 1521. His most famous letter was addressed to Emperor Charles V; dated in Segura de la Frontera (New Spain) on October 30th of 1520, it was published by Jacobo Cromberger with the title Segunda carta de relación (Seville, 1522). The novelty and importance of Cortés' discoveries and conquests generated immediate interest in all of Europe. His letter was translated into French in 1522 (Antwerp), Flemish in 1523 (Antwerp), Latin in 1524 (Nuremberg), German in 1550 (Augsburg), and only much later into English (New York, 1843), with the title The Dispatches of Hernando Cortes.
The Durand Collection contains the first Italian translation, made by Nicolo Liburnio and based on the Latin version. This print lacks the title page and the map of Tenochtitlán which was designed by Cortés himself.
|
 |