Joseph de Acosta – författare

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume, first published in 1880, translates the first detailed description of the geography and indigenous culture of South America, written by Joseph de Acosta (1540-1600) and originally published in Spanish in 1590. Acosta was one of the first explorers to record and analyse the geophysical phenomena of the 'New World' and attempt to explain them scientifically. Volume 1 contains the first four books of Joseph de Acosta's work describing the climate, plants, animals and meteorological phenomena of South America.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume, first published in 1880, translates the first detailed description of the geography and indigenous culture of South America, written by Joseph de Acosta (1540-1600) and published in Spanish in 1590. Acosta was one of the first explorers to record and analyse the geophysical phenomena of the 'New World' and attempt to explain them scientifically. Volume 2 contains Books 5-7 of Acosta's work, describing the life of the indigenous population and including a brief history of the end of the Inca empire.

Publicada en 1590 en Sevilla, esta obra está basada en indagaciones cuidadosas en las que el autor combina tanto sus propias observaciones como testimonios de personas enteradas y dignas de crédito, y está fundada en un profundo saber humanista, propio de la época. El libro es una respuesta reveladora a preguntas fundamentales que atañen, por un lado, a las características naturales del nuevo continente y, por el otro, a aquellos elementos importantes constitutivos del ser peculiar de los habitantes de dichas tierras.

Publicada en 1590 en Sevilla, esta obra está basada en indagaciones cuidadosas en las que el autor combina tanto sus propias observaciones como testimonios de personas enteradas y dignas de crédito, y está fundada en un profundo saber humanista, propio de la época. El libro es una respuesta reveladora a preguntas fundamentales que atañen, por un lado, a las características naturales del nuevo continente y, por el otro, a aquellos elementos importantes constitutivos del ser peculiar de los habitantes de dichas tierras.