Public-domain ebook
Language: en2,024 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Travel Writing·History - Other·Archaeology & Anthropology
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #48770.
The volume presents the first part of Pedro de Cieza de León’s chronicle of Peru, covering his journeys from the Gulf of Darién to the city of La Plata between 1532 and 1550. It is a scholarly edition issued by the Hakluyt Society, whose 1864 report details the Society’s finances, membership, and publishing programme before announcing the forthcoming translation of Cieza de León’s work. The introductory material therefore begins with a formal account of the Society’s administration, lists recent publications, and explains the purpose of making rare travel narratives accessible to its members. Within this framework the reader is told that the forthcoming translation, edited by Clements R. Markham, will treat the boundaries and description of provinces, the founding of new cities, the rites and customs of the Indians, and other “strange things worthy to be known,” all drawn from the 1554 Antwerp edition.
The prose reflects the mid‑nineteenth‑century style of learned societies: precise, somewhat ceremonial, and heavily footnoted, with a focus on documentary fidelity. The voice is that of a committee report rather than a narrative, offering a context for the translation rather than the travel story itself. Readers who enjoy the meticulous apparatus of historical scholarship, particularly those interested in early Spanish accounts of South America, colonial geography, or the editorial practices of Victorian societies, will find this volume a valuable resource.
The opening · free to read
REPORT FOR 1864.
The Council have great pleasure in being able to report to the Members of the Hakluyt Society that, during the last year, a considerable increase has been made to their numbers. At the same time the list of subscribers has been carefully revised, and has been cleared of a great many names of members who disregard the applications made to them for the payment of their arrears. The number of Members is now 224, and the balance in the Banker’s hands is £431:17:3. The arrears due to the Society amount to £290:17:0, while there are no outstanding debts of any kind.
Thus the funds of the Society are in a prosperous condition, and several Editors have, since the issue of the last annual Report, undertaken works of great value and rarity. The Council, therefore, congratulate the Members on the satisfactory state of the Society’s affairs; but they would also remind them that a large addition to the number of the subscribers is very desirable, and that the power of doing full justice to the authors whose works are reproduced in the Society’s volumes, depends upon the support which is received from those who are interested in this very important branch of literature.
Since the last General Meeting, the two following volumes have been delivered to members:--
1. “Mirabilia Descripta.” “Or the wonders of the East, by Friar Jordanus (circa 1330).” Translated from the Latin original, with the addition of a commentary by Colonel Henry Yule, C.B., late of the Royal Engineers (Bengal).
2. “The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia (A.D. 1503 to 1508).” Translated from the original Italian edition of 1510, with a preface, by John Winter Jones, Esq., F.S.A.; and edited with Notes and an Introduction by the Rev. George Percy Badger.
The following work is in the hands of the printer, and will be delivered to Members in the course of the autumn:--
“The Travels of Pedro de Cieza de Leon, from the gulf of Darien to the city of La Plata, contained in the first part of the Chronicle of Peru, which treats of the boundaries and description of provinces, founding of new cities, rites and customs of the Indians, and other strange things worthy to be known (Antwerp 1554).” Translated and edited, with Notes and an Introduction, by Clements R. Markham, Esq.
And the following works have been undertaken by Editors, one of which will be issued as the second volume for the present year:--
1. “The Travels of Josafa Barbaro and Ambrogio Contarini in Tana and Persia.” Translated from Ramusio by E. A. Roy, Esq., and edited by Viscount Strangford.
2. “The Narrative of Pascual de Andagoya, containing the earliest notice of Peru.” Translated and edited, with Notes, by Clements R. Markham, Esq.
3. “The Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands by Bethencourt in 1402-25.” Translated and edited by Captain J. G. Goodenough, R.N.
4. “The Voyage of Vasco de Gama round the Cape of Good Hope in 1497,” now first translated from a contemporaneous manuscript, accompanied by other documents, forming a monograph on the life of De Gama. To be translated and edited by Richard Garnett, Esq., of the British Museum.
5. “The Three Voyages of Sir Martin Frobisher,” with a selection of his letters now in the State Paper Office. Edited by Rear-Admiral R. Collinson, R.N., C.B.
6. “Cathay, and the road thither.” A collection of all minor notices of China, previous to the sixteenth century; to be translated and edited, with Notes and an Introduction, by Colonel Henry Yule, C.B.
7. “The Fifth Letter of Hernan Cortes, describing his Voyage to Honduras in 1525-26,” to be translated and edited by William Stirling, Esq., M.P.
8. “The Voyage and Travailes of John Hughen van Linschoten into the East or Portugales Indies from A.D. 1576-92,” to be reprinted from the English translation of 1598, and edited by the Rev. G. P. Badger.
9. “Description of Africa and of the notable things in it, by John Leo Africanus.” To be translated from Ramusio, and edited, with Notes and an Introduction, by Dr. Henry Barth, C.B., Hon. Corr. Mem. F.R.G.S.
The following Six Members retire from the Council:--
COMMODORE CRACROFT, R.N., C.B. JOHN FORSTER, ESQ. DR. HODGKIN. SIR ERSKINE PERRY. MAJOR GENERAL SIR HENRY RAWLINSON, K.C.B. LORD BROUGHTON.
Of this number, the three following are proposed for re-election, viz:
SIR ERSKINE PERRY. MAJOR GENERAL SIR HENRY RAWLINSON, K.C.B. THE RIGHT HON. LORD BROUGHTON.
And the names of the following gentlemen are proposed for election:--
VISCOUNT STRANGFORD. GENERAL C. FOX. REAR-ADMIRAL R. COLLINSON, C.B. CAPTAIN SHERARD OSBORN, R.N., C.B. REV. G. P. BADGER. JOHN W. KAYE, ESQ.
STATEMENT OF THE ACCOUNTS OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1863-64.
Balance at Banker’s at last |Mr. J. E. Richard, for Paper £35 2 0 Audit £357 10 0|Mr. Richards, for Printing 175 11 0 Received by Banker during |Transcriptions 21 17 0 the year 341 5 3|Mr. Stanford, for a Map 29 7 6 Petty Cash in hand at last |Charge at Hull, on £2:2 Audit 1 16 0| (Bank of England) 0 0 6 Petty Cash received in July |Gratuity to Agent’s Foreman 5 0 0 1864 10 0 0|Expended in Petty Cash 5 0 7 | --------- | £271 18 7 |Present Balance at Banker’s 431 17 3 |Present Balance in Petty Cash 6 15 5 ---------| --------- £710 11 3| £710 11 3 ---------| ---------
Examined and approved July 15th, 1864.
CHARLES BAGOT PHILLIMORE. WILLIAM NEVILLE STURT.
SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, K.C.B., G.C.St.S., F.R.S., F.R.G.S, D.C.L. Mem. Imp. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, Corr. Mem. Inst. Fr., &c. &c.
Vice-Presidents.
REAR-ADMIRAL C. R. DRINKWATER BETHUNE, C.B. THE RIGHT HON. SIR DAVID DUNDAS, M.P.
Council.
REV. G. P. BADGER, F.R.G.S. J. BARROW, ESQ., F.R.S. RT. HON. LORD BROUGHTON. REAR-ADMIRAL R. COLLINSON, C.B. SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S. GENERAL C. FOX. R. W. GREY, ESQ. JOHN WINTER JONES, ESQ., F.S.A. JOHN W. KAYE, ESQ. HIS EXCELLENCY THE COUNT DE LAVRADIO. R. H. MAJOR, ESQ., F.S.A. SIR CHARLES NICHOLSON, BART. CAPTAIN SHERARD OSBORN, R.N., C.B. SIR ERSKINE PERRY. MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HENRY C. RAWLINSON, K.C.B. WILLIAM STIRLING, ESQ., M.P. VISCOUNT STRANGFORD.
=Honorary Secretary=--C. R. MARKHAM, ESQ.
=Bankers=--MESSRS. RANSOM, BOUVERIE, AND CO., 1, PALL MALL EAST.
The Hakluyt Society, which is established for the purpose of printing rare or unpublished Voyages and Travels, aims at opening by this means, an easier access to the sources of a branch of knowledge, which yields to none in importance, and is superior to most in agreeable variety. The narratives of travellers and navigators make us acquainted with the earth, its inhabitants and productions; they exhibit the growth of intercourse among mankind, with its effects on civilization, and, while instructing, they at the same time awaken attention, by recounting the toils and adventures of those who first explored unknown and distant regions.
The advantage of an Association of this kind, consists not merely in its system of literary co-operation, but also in its economy. The acquirements, taste, and discrimination of a number of individuals, who feel an interest in the same pursuit, are thus brought to act in voluntary combination, and the ordinary charges of publication are also avoided, so that the volumes produced are distributed among the Members (who can alone obtain them) at little more than the cost of printing and paper. The Society expends the whole of its funds in the preparation of works for the Members; and since the cost of each copy varies inversely as the whole number of copies printed, it is obvious that the members are gainers individually by the prosperity of the Society, and the consequent vigour of its operations.
New Members have, at present, the privilege of purchasing the complete set of the publications of the Society for previous years for thirteen guineas, but have not the power of selecting any particular volume.
The Members are requested to bear in mind that the power of the Council to make advantageous arrangements, will depend, in a great measure, on the prompt payment of the subscriptions, which are payable in advance on the 1st of January, and are received by MR. RICHARDS, 37, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, who is the Society’s agent for the delivery of its volumes. Post Office Orders should be made payable to MR. THOMAS RICHARDS, at the West Central Office, High Holborn.
WORKS ALREADY ISSUED.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
