Historia Verdadera De La Conquista De La Nueva Espana, Vol. 1

Bernal Digrave;az del Castillo (14921584) was a foot soldier in the army of Mexico's conqueror Hernagrave;n Cortegrave;s. The first edition of his True History of the Conquest of New Spain (as it was entitled in a later English translation) was published in Madrid in 1632 from a manuscript copy sent to Spain shortly after the author's death. Written in a highly accessible style, and describing the experiences of the troops themselves, the work became even more successful than the official accounts and went through many editions and translations. The two-volume edition reissued here was first published in 1904 and is considered a more reliable text, as it was based on the original manuscript preserved in Guatemala City. Volume 1 contains an introduction by the editor, the influential Mexican historian and book-collector Genaro Garcigrave;a (18671920), a table of variant readings, and chapters 1139 of the text.