Extremly Rare! Peter Martyr of Angleria First Historian of the New World

A very rare autograph of Peter Martyr (Pietro Martire 1455-1526), who is regarded as the first historian of the New World. 1 page, 4to, dated November 6, 1515. About 100 words written in Italian. Accompanied by 2 translations. This document is a receipt for the sum of 12 imperial livres for the books of Maestro Pabtista Sfrondrato. The document was purchased by Dr. John K. Lattimer from Goodspeed's Book Shop Inc. in 1976 and has been housed in the Lattimer Collection since then. Accompanying the manuscript is all of the documentation from Lattimer's purchase including a letter from Goodspeed's Book Shop, a copy of "The Flying Quill" from Goodspeed's, and the original shipping envelope addressed to Lattimer. A nice example of an early document. The document was matted to a thicker paper and exhibits edge wear and faint fold lines. Ink exhibits fading but all writing is legible. Can not find any letters that have sold in the last 50 years!

"Peter Martyr, the first historian of America, was a friend and contemporary of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Hernando Cortés, Ferdinand Magellan, Sebastian Cabot, and Amerigo Vespucci. Through his friendship with these discoverers, as well as from his official position as a member of the Council for the Indies in Spain, authentic documents were available to him, thereby gaining him much valuable information regarding discoveries made by the early navigators...

Peter Martyr d'Anghiera (Latin: Petrus Martyr Anglerius or ab Angleria; Italian: Pietro Martire d'Anghiera; Spanish: Pedro Mártir de Anglería; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,[1] was an Italian historian at the service of Spain during the Age of Exploration. He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central and South America in a series of letters and reports, grouped in the original Latin publications of 1511 to 1530 into sets of ten chapters called "decades". His Decades of the New World are of great value in the history of geography and discovery. His De Orbe Novo (On the New World, 1530) describes the first contacts of Europeans and Native Americans, Native American civilizations in the Caribbean and North America, as well as Mesoamerica, and includes, for example, the first European reference to India rubber. It was first translated into English in 1555, and in a fuller version in 1912. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera (Latin: Petrus Martyr Anglerius or ab Angleria; Italian: Pietro Martire d'Anghiera; Spanish: Pedro Mártir de Anglería; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,[1] was an Italian historian at the service of Spain during the Age of Exploration. He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central and South America in a series of letters and reports, grouped in the original Latin publications of 1511 to 1530 into sets of ten chapters called "decades". His Decades of the New World are of great value in the history of geography and discovery. His De Orbe Novo (On the New World, 1530) describes the first contacts of Europeans and Native Americans, Native American civilizations in the Caribbean and North America, as well as Mesoamerica, and includes, for example, the first European reference to India rubber. It was first translated into English in 1555, and in a fuller version in 1912.

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