gems, jade, Fischer-Book

Edited by Enrique de Vedia, this volume brings together Spanish accounts of the discovery, conquest, and early colonial history of the Americas, reprinting works by several of the principal sixteenth-century chroniclers of the Indies. Published as part of the Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, it preserves important early descriptions of the peoples, geography, natural resources, customs, and material culture encountered by the Spaniards in the New World. Of particular relevance to gemological and historical research are references in the collected chronicles to indigenous goldwork, pearls, emeralds, precious and ornamental stones, and the valuables obtained through trade, tribute, and conquest. As a nineteenth-century compilation of otherwise difficult-to-consult early texts, the volume became a useful source for the study of Spanish-American history and early European accounts of New World mineral and gem resources.