Hernan Cortes: Letters from Mexico
by Hernan Cortes
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hernan CortesEditor: Anthony Pagden
Introduction: J. H. Elliott
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1987-09-10
ISBN: 0300037996
Number of pages: 578
Publisher: Yale University Press
Book Reviews of Hernan Cortes: Letters from Mexico
Book Review: Interesting read
Summary: 4 Stars
Anthony Pagden, Harry C. Black Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, presents his readers with what he feels is the definitive edition of Hernan Cortes letters. Pagden states in his introduction that although his translation was not the first in English, the previous were, "more or less unsatisfactory" (page lxxix). Pagden sticks to the verisimilitude of the letters as much as possible, presenting Cortes' original spellings and place names. The main liberty Pagden admits to have taken, dividing the text into further paragraphs, does not distract the reader or destroy the intent of the work. By using the earliest available manuscripts, the original translations, and numerous primary sources as evidenced by an extensive bibliography, Pagden allows the reader to enter another world, and delve into the mind of the most talked about of all conquerors, Hernan (Hernando, Fernando) Cortes. Five letters are presented for synaptic digestion. However, the first letter presented is actually not written by Cortes. The unknown author speaks highly of Cortes, though. The other letters, penned by Cortes, describes the exact minutiae of what he paints as a perilous journey. What makes these letters so readable and enjoyable is the reader gains an intimate knowledge of the pageantry of the 16th century, and a first-hand account of what must have been clash of Spanish and New World cultures. The letters written by Cortes are revelatory. He must have had either a tremendous memory (the shortest letter is fifty-six pages long whereas the longest is 122 pages) or a fervent imagination. It is not inconceivable, then, and Cortes' prose intimates this, that he was an educated man. The letters also show that Cortes was very deferential - as he addresses his head of state, every few pages Cortes begins a new thought with phrases such as, "Most Powerful and Invincible Lord", "Your Majesty", and "Most Catholic Lord." For the contemporary reader this can be distracting. From the triumph of Conquest, the reader finds Cortes ends as a broken man, literally begging King Charles for monies to pay his increasing debts. Certainly these are not all the letters Cortes wrote to his monarch. What letters presented represent a unique opportunity. Herein lays the thinking of the man who led a handful conquerors and New World allies to bring down an empire. In this respect, the work succeeds brilliantly, for the mind of Cortes leaps out in his letters. I might have read a different edition than the one advertised, so the page numbers might not match up.
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