Comentarios Reales
by Garcilaso de la Vega
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The two-part classic history of the Incan empire's origin and growth, as well as their demise following the arrival of the Spaniards. Garcilaso de la Vega, the first native of the New World to attain importance as a writer in the Old, was born in Cuzco in 1539, the illegitimate son of a Spanish cavalier and an Inca princess. Although he was educated as a gentleman of Spain and won an important place in Spanish letters, Garcilaso was fiercely proud of his Indian ancestry and wrote under the show more name EI Inca. Royal Commentaries of the Incas is the account of the origin, growth, and destruction of the Inca empire, from its legendary birth until the death in 1572 of its last independent ruler. For the material in Part One of Royal Commentaries-the history of the Inca civilization prior to the arrival of the Spaniards-Garcilaso drew upon "what I often heard as a child from the lips of my mother and her brothers and uncles and other elders...[of] the origin of the Inca kings, their greatness, the grandeur of their empire, their deeds and conquests, their government in peace and war, and the laws they ordained so greatly to the advantage of their vassals." The conventionalized and formal history of an oral tradition, Royal Commentaries describes the gradual imposition of order and civilization upon a primitive and barbaric world. To this Garcilaso adds facts about the geography and the flora and fauna of the land, the folk practices, religion, and superstitions, the agricultural and the architectural and engineering achievements of the people, and a variety of other information drawn from his rich store of traditional knowledge, personal observation, or speculative philosophy. Important though it is as history, Garcilaso's classic is much more: it is also a work of art. Its gracious and graceful style, skillfully translated by Harold V. Livermore, succeeds in bringing to life for the reader a genuine work of literature. show lessTags
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Commited to print in 1609, this book contains a great deal of what we know of the biographies of the Incas of "the Four Quarters". De la Vega was a grandson of an Incan noble, and queried his grandfather's generation to record what he could of their history. Archaeology may have told us more about the Incas but this is an irreplaceable book for the investigator. The Woodcuts are interesting.
"Edición completa. Primera parte. Edición para el bolsillo".
Blaa
Dec 1, 2024Spanish
Non Fiction, History, History of South America, Incas, Politics and government, Social conditions, Garcilaso de la Vega (Cuzco, Peru, April 12, 1539 - Córdoba, Spain, April 24, 1616) was the son of a Spanish conquistador, the Captain Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega, and of the Inca princess Chimpu Ocllo, later baptized as Isabel Suárez Chimpu Ocllo, In 1559, after his father's death, Garcilaso moved to Spain, where he lived for the rest of his life, First published in two parts: Part I, under the title: "Primera parte de los Comentarios reales que tratan del origen de los Yncas, reyes que fueron del Peru, de su idolatria, leyes, y govierno en paz y en guerra: de sus vidas y conquistas, y de todo lo que fue aquel imperio y su republica show more antes que los españoles passaran a el. Escritos por el ynca Garcilasso de la Vega, natural del Cozco y capitan de su majestad. Dirigidos a la serenissima princesa Dona Catalina de Portugal, Duquesa de Barganza & C.", in the printshop of Pedro Crasbeeck, Lisbon, 1609; Written between 1590-1604, Part. II, under the title: "Historia General del Perú, trata el Descubrimiento del; y como lo ganaron los Españoles. Las guerras civiles que huvo entre Pizarros, y Almagros, sobre la Partija de la tierra, Castigo y el levantamiento de tyranos: y otros sucesos particulares que contienen. Escrita por el Ynca Garcilaso de la Vega, capitán de su Magestad, & C; Dirigida a la Limpísima Virgen María; Madre de Dios, y señora nuestra. Con privilegio real", Cordoba, 1617, published posthumously; First Italian edition, under the title: "Commentari reali degli Incas", Rusconi, Milano, 1977, curated by Francesco Saba Sardi, LXXXIX-872 pp. show less
Dec 24, 2017 (Edited)Italian
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- Canonical title
- Comentarios Reales
- Original title
- Comentarios reales de los incas
- Alternate titles*
- Historia general de Perú
- Original publication date
- 1609
- Original language
- Spanish
- Disambiguation notice
- This work is by the author described on LibraryThing as Garcilaso de la Vega (2), who was born in 1539 in Peru, and died in 1616 in Spain.
This work includes the three parts of "The Royal Commentaries of the Incas". DON'T COMBINE with selections or abridged editions.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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