Page:Vol 1 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/401

Rh Not far from Iztapalapan they came upon the longest causeway, two leagues in extent, which with the of America known to Bordone when he wrote his book. It was completed in 1521, according to its pontifical license, although not issued till 1528. The versatile author, who figured both as artist and professor, died in 1531, and the later issues of the Libro, henceforth called Isolario, are by editors whose endeavor to keep apace with the demands of the times is instanced by the edition of 1537, wherein appears a letter on the conquest of Peru. In the mappemonde of the first edition before me, the smaller northern part of the new continent is called terra del laboratore, while the southern part bears the inscription ponēti môdo nouo. The two are separated at the Isthmus, in about the latitude of the Mediterranean, by a long strait, at the eastern mouth of which, on the sectional map of folio vi., is written, stretto pte del mõdo nouo. Farther east lie the islands Astores, Asmaide, and Brasil. The numerous sectional wood-cut maps and plans bear the conventional outline of a series of concave segments, and of the ten referring to different parts of the new world, seven apply to the Antilles.

The clearest account of Mexico given by any of the conquerors is to be found in Relatione d'alcvne cose della Nuoua Spagna, & della gran città di Temistitan Messicò, fatta per vn gentil'huomo del Signor Fernando Cortese, wherein the description of the natives, their manners and customs, their towns, the resources of the country, and above all, the capital city, is to be found in concise form, arranged in paragraphs with appropriate headings, and illustrated by a cut of the great temple, which appears far more correct than those given by most subsequent writers. A view of the capital is also appended,showing the surrounding country, and according very nearly with those of the Nuremburg type, except in the faulty relative position to the neighborhood. Nothing is known of the author, who is generally referred to as the Anonymous Conqueror, but the opinion has been hazarded that he was Francisco de Terrazas, mayordomo of Cortés. His account was evidently written in Spanish, but did not see the light till Ramusio issued it in Italian under the above title. It forms one of the most valuable documents for the history of Mexico to be found in this prized collection of voyages and travels, the first large work of its class. No branch of literature obtained a greater stimulus from the discovery of Columbus. He it was who broke the barrier which had confined the ardor of voyagers, and who led the revival of maritime enterprise, creating a curiosity among the stayers-at-home that could be satiated only with repeated editions of narratives relating to expeditions and conquests. The number of these narratives became, within a few years, so large as to require their grouping into special collections for the sake of cheapness and convenience. The earliest is probably the Paesi Nouamente retrouati, Et Nouo Mondo da Alberico vesputio; By Fracanzo or Fracanzano da Montalboddo, Vicenza, 1507, mentioned by Tiraboschi, Storia della literatura italiana. This was roproduced in 1508 by Madrignani, at Milan. According to Panzer, Ruchamer issued the same year a somewhat fuller collection at Nuremberg, under the title of Newe Unbekanthe landte Und eine Newe weldte, with eight pieces, among them the voyages of Columbus, Ojeda, Pinzon, and Vespucci. A similar work was issued by the Italian Angiolelo, in 1519.

The best known of these early collections, and by many regarded as the first issued in German, is the Novvs Orbis Regionvm ac Insolarvm Veteribes Incognitarvm; Basilece apvd Io Hervagivm, Mense Martio, anno ., 4to, 584 pages, beside unnumbered leaves. 'La plus ancienne de ces (Latin) collections,' says Boucher, Bibl. Univ., i. 55. Although prepared by John Huttich, the canon of Strasbourg, it is better known under the name of Simon Grynæus, who wrote the introductory and revised it at the request of Hervagius, the publisher, a well known bookman, greatly esteemed by Erasmus. ''Meusel, Bibl. Hist''., iii. pt. i. 221, gives it with punctilious fairness the title of Collectio