Bidspirit auction | BAUTISTA MUÑOZ (Juan). HISTORIA del

BAUTISTA MUÑOZ (Juan). HISTORIA del Nuevo Mundo. En Madrid. 1793 - BAUTISTA MUÑOZ (Juan) HISTORIA del Nuevo Mundo . Tomo I [único publicado]. En Madrid: Por la Viuda de Ibarra, 1793. [6], XXX, 364 pp., 1 retrato de Cristóvaão Colombo, 1 mapa desdobrável final: il.; 285 mm. The book ”Historia del Nuevo Mundo” (Volume I), written by Juan Bautista Muñoz, was commissioned by the Spanish crown to serve as instruction and splendor to the nation, to shed light and dispel the illusion of the literary republic. The author emphasizes that this work is based on a wealth of unpublished documents and manuscripts, obtained through unrestricted access to royal archives and libraries, including Simancas and Seville. Muñoz devoted much of his preface to analyzing and criticizing previous historians of the New World, such as Pedro Mártir, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Bartolomé de las Casas, and Antonio de Herrera, highlighting their errors, sources, and degrees of reliability. The context of the discovery is traced back to the development of the compass in the 13th century, the exploration of the Canary Islands by the Castilians, and Portuguese maritime expansion, which paved the way for navigation on the high seas, culminating in the application of the astrolabe to calculate latitude. Focusing on the period between 1492 and 1500, the work focuses on Columbus's three voyages and early colonization efforts. The First Voyage (1492) aimed primarily to reach Asia/Cipango by sailing westward, culminating in the discovery of the Lucayan Islands (San Salvador), Cuba (Juana), and Hispaniola (Española). The Second Voyage (1493) sought to strengthen its presence, founding the permanent colony of La Isabela (early 1494), followed by reconnaissance expeditions to Cibao for gold exploration and exploratory voyages to Cuba (south coast) and Jamaica (1494). The Third Voyage (1498) led to the discovery of the mainland at Paria and the founding of Santo Domingo (1498). Illustrated with a portrait of Christopher Columbus and a folding map at the end, engraved in copper entitled “Mapa del Nuevo-Mundo” , engraved by Tomás López Enguídanos (signed “ T. Lopez Enguidanos inc. ”). It presents the two Americas with a network of meridians/parallels and a reference meridian on Iron Island (Ferro) , and “La Isla Española” . According to what we've been able to determine, the work was not published because it was censored. Rare and important. ! Please note that this translated text was generated by Google. !