The Natural and Moral History of the Indies

This volume from the publications of the Hakluyt Society (1880) translates a 1590 description of the geography of South America.

Joseph de Acosta (Author), Clements R. Markham (Edited by), Edward Grimston (Translated by)

9781108011518, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 May 2010

360 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.46 kg

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 The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India.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.

Introduction
Dedication to the Infanta Isabella
Translator's dedication to Sir Robert Cecil
Address to the reader
Analytical table of contents
The Natural History Books I-IV.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]