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Exploration of th society, surroundings and lives of the Amerindians of the Western Indies and the Americas (what we would call Latin America) as seen through first-hand observations of Jose Acosta and the written accounts of other ethnohistorians, soldie

Table of Contents

Introduction to José de Acosta’s Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias
Prologue to the reader
Book I
1. Of the opinion held by some authors that the heavens did not extend to the New World
2. How the heavens are round everywhere and rotate around themselves
3. How Holy Writ gives us to understand that the earth is in the midst of the universe
4. In which a response is given to what is alleged in Scripture against the heavens being round
5. Of the shape and appearance of the heavens in the New World
6. How the world has both land and sea in the direction of both poles
7. Which refutes the opinion of Lactantius, who said that there were no antipodes
8. Of Saint Augustine’s motives in denying the antipodes
9. Of Aristotle’s opinion of the New World and what it was that caused him to deny it
10. How Pliny and most of the ancients believed the same as Aristotle
11. How some mentions of this New World is found in the ancients
12. What Plato believed concerning these West Indies
13. How some have believed that in Holy Scripture Ophir is this Peru of ours
14. What Tarshish and Ophir mean in Scripture
15. Of the prophecy of Abdias, which some say concerned these Indies
16. How the first men could have come to the Indies and how they did not sail purposely to these parts
17. Of the properties and remarkable virtue of the lodestone in navigation and how the ancients did not know of it
18. Which answers those who believe that in ancient times the ocean was crossed as in our day
19. How it may be believed that the first inhabitants of the Indies came there brought by storms and against their will
20. How it is more reasonable to believe that the first dwellers in the Indies came by land
21. How wild beasts and domestic animals crossed to the lands of the Indies
22. How the race of Indians did not come by way of Atlantis, as some believe
23. How the opinion of many, who believe that the Indians come from the race of the Jews, is false
24. Why there is no sure way to establish the Indians’ origin
25. What the Indians are wont to say about their origin
Book II
1. Which will deal with the nature of the equinoctial line, or equator
2. What caused the ancients to have no doubt that the Torrid Zone was uninhabitable
3. How the Torrid Zone is very wet, and how in this the ancients were much mistaken
4. How outside the Tropics there is more rain when the sun draws farther away, which is the reverse of the Torrid Zone
5. How in the Tropics the rains come in summer, or time of heat, and the calculation of winter and summer
6. How the Torrid Zone has a great abundance of water and vegetation, though Aristotle denies it
7. Which deals with the reason why the sun, outside the Tropics, causes rain when it is most distant, and in the Tropics the reverse, when it is nearest
8. How what is said of the Torrid Zone must be understood
9. How the Torrid Zone is not excessively hot but only moderately so
10. How the Torrid Zone’s heat is tempered by the abundance of rain and the brevity of the days
11. How in addition to the causes mentioned there are other reasons why the Torrid Zone is temperate, especially the proximity of the Ocean Sea
12. How the higher lands are colder and the reason for this
13. How cool winds are the chief reason why the Torrid Zone is temperate
14. How life in the equatorial region is very agreeable
Book III
1. How the natural history of the Indies is pleasant and enjoyable
2. Of winds and their differences and properties and causes in general
3. Of some properties of the winds that blow in the New World
4. How easterly winds always blow in the Torrid Zone and outside it both westerlies and easterlies
5. Of the differences between easterlies and southwesterlies and other kinds of winds
6. Why there is always an east wind for sailing in the Torrid Zone
7. Why westerly winds are more usually found when leaving the Torrid Zone, at higher latitudes
8. Of exceptions to be found in the rule just expressed and the winds and calms that exist on sea and land
9. Of some wonderful effects of winds in parts of the Indies
10. Of the ocean that surrounds the Indies and of the Northern and Southern Seas
11. Of the Strait of Magellan and how it was crossed on its southern side
12. Of the strait that some say exists in Florida
13. Of the properties of the Strait of Magellan
14. Of the ebb and flow of the Ocean Sea in the Indies
15. Of the different fish and methods of fishing of the Indians
16. Of the pools and lakes that are found in the Indies
17. Of various fountains and springs
18. Of rivers
19. Of the general nature of the earth in the Indies
20. Of the properties of the land of Peru
21. Of the reasons given as to why it does not rain on the plains
22. Of the properties of New Spain and the islands and the other lands
23. Of undiscovered regions and the difference of a whole day between east and west
24. Of volcanoes or vents of fire
25. Why the fire and smoke of these volcanoes persists for so long
26. Of earthquakes
27. How earth and sea clasp one another
Book IV
1. Of the three kinds of mixtures that will be dealt with in this history
2. Of the abundance of metals that exist in the Indies
3. Of the kind of land where metals are found, and how in the Indies all the metals are not worked, and how the Indians used metals
4. Of the gold that is produced in the Indies
5. Of the silver of the Indies
6. Of the mountain of Potosí and its discovery
7. Of the wealth that has been taken, and is still being taken daily, from the mountain of Potosí
8. How the mines of Potosí are worked
9. How silver ore is refined
10. Of the wonderful properties of quicksilver
11. Where quicksilver is found and how rich mines of it were discovered in Huancavelica
12. How quicksilver is extracted and how silver is refined with its use
13. Of the machinery for grinding ore and assaying silver
14. Of emeralds
15. Of pearls
16. Of bread in the Indies, and maize
17. Of yucca and cassava, and potatoes and chuño and rice
18. Of different roots that grow in the Indies
19. Of different kinds of greenstuffs and vegetables, and of those called cucumbers, and pineapples and Chilean strawberries, and plums
20. Of ají, or Indies pepper
21. Of the plantain
22. Of cocoa and coca
23. Of maguey, tunal, and cochineal and of indigo and cotton
24. Of mameys and guavas and alligator pears
25. Of chicozapote and anonas and capolíes
26. Of different kinds of fruit trees, and of coconuts and Andes almonds, a

About the Author

José de Acosta (1540–1600) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary trained in philosophy, theology, and history.

Jane E. Mangan is Assistant Professor of History at Harvard University.

Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Professor of Literature and Romance Studies at Duke University.

Frances M. López-Morillas has translated numerous Spanish-language works into English, including Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca’s Naufragios.

Reviews

" The value of this edition lies not only in the quality of the translation and editingof Acosta's History, but equally in the presentation of the text by means of a brief introductionand lengthier concluding commentary... highly relevant to the urgent project of challenging the colonial structures and mentalities that persist in the contemporary world"--Jrnl of Latin American Studies, February 2005 "This excellent new translation is the first to appear in English since that of Edward Grimston in 1604... Walter D. Mignolo's useful introduction provides a context for the book as well as an outline of its contents... Scholars and students of the European encounter with the Americas will be grateful for this new translation of Acosta's classic treatise... Highly recommended."--R. Fritze, Choice "Readers doubtlessly will be impressed by one of the outstanding minds of the sixteenth century... Acosta's fascinating Historia offers us a window through which we can explore the knowledge and values of a different culture across time."--Colonial Latin American Historical Review "This English-language edition of Acosta's work provides a rewarding opportunity to engage the mind of the conquerors... Historian Jane Mangan ... provides numerous insights into Acosta and the various contingencies (theological, institutional, historical) that governed the writing of his Historia. In a thought-provoking commentary that follows Acosta's text, Walter Mignolo highlights the 'border epistemologies' that are absent from Acosta's text, yet that were central to the lives of millions of Indians and mestizos during and since the colonial period. Frances Lopez-Morillas has done an admirable job translating the original Spanish text..."--Daniel T. Reff, Anthropological Quarterly "[I]nformative, interesting, and illustrative of many characteristics of its historical location. The translation is graceful and clear. The editor's notes are thorough and most helpful."--James Gaffney, Religious Studies Review "[W]ell edited... This basic text in translation is an important contribution to such popular fields as ecclesiastical history and the history of colonialism."--Leonard R. N. Ashley, Bibliotheque d'Humanisme et Renaissance "This translation ambitiously but powerfully reintroduces this text with the tools gained from today's considerations of historical geography and Amerindian historical sources to better understand the intellectual crossroads of Acosta's time... [T]ruly innovative."--Anita I. Bravo, Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History "[T]his exemplary translation ... deserves shelf space in the library of anyone interested in the colonial phase of sixteenth-century Latin America or the concomitant shift from scholastic experiential learning."--James Ogier, Sixteenth Century Journal "Jane E. Mangan's edition and Frances Lopez-Morillas' translation of the Historia is a major contribution to Latin American studies... Of special significance to this edition is Walter D. Mignolo's introduction and commentary... Frances M. Lopez-Morillas ... renders an excellent translation of the Historia, Acosta's elegant simple prose is captured completely by the translator. The work reads so smoothly one might think that its original language is English... Mangan's edition is an excellent example of thoughtful and scrupulous research and reflection. I highly recommend that it become an essential work for consultation by serious scholars and students of colonial Latin America."-- Charles Kargleder, South Eastern Latin Americanist "[S]killfully translated by Frances Lopez-Morillas and adroitly edited by Jane E. Mangan. The book, in truth, is a marvel to behold."--W. George Lovell, Canadian Journal of History "[A] crisp new rendition... Both the annotations and the study help put Acosta in a larger cultural and ideological context..."--Jorge Canizares-Esguerra, Ethnohistory "[T]he publication of a new English language edition of the text is warmly to be welcomed; indeed, it appears to reflect, and will surely contribute to, growing interest in the histories and geographies of (post) colonial Latin America in the Anglophone world. Translated into highly readable contemporary English that nevertheless remains faithful to the original, Mangan's edition includes extensive footnotes to the text that provide a wealth of background information and suggestions for further reading that will be useful for undergraduates and researchers alike."--Heidi V. Scott, Journal of Latin American Studies Abstract in Translation Review. Listed in American Historical Review, New Mexico Historical Review, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and UC Mexus News. Also reviewed in The Americas, ISLE and British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America. Reviewed in French in Anthropologies et Societes.