Art of Colonial Latin America

3 volumes. An important 17th century manuscript by a native Andean, written for the King of Spain. See also the digitized online version listed above.

Abridged version in English translation of approximately the first third of The First New Chronicle and Good Government. The sections included in this volume (pages 1-369 of the manuscript) cover the history of Peru from the earliest times and the lives of each of the Inca rulers and their wives, as well as a wealth of information about ordinances, age grades, the calendar, idols, sorcerers, burials, punishments, jails, songs, palaces, roads, storage houses, and government officials. One hundred forty-six of Guaman Poma's detailed illustrations amplify the text. (The original manuscript contains 1,189 pages accompanied by 398 full-page drawings.)

This volume brings together a range of scholars to explore the countless avenues of inquiry that emerge from Poma's work, including Andean institutions and ecology, Inca governance, Spanish conquest-era history, the relationship of the manuscript to Fray Martin de Muruas chronicles, and much more.