Thanks to the Academia Nacional de la Historia of Venezuela we now have the first complete Spanish translation of one of the principal sources for the history of the New World, and it is a fine translation indeed. Since La historia del Mundo Nuevo was first published in Venice in 1565, it may he asked why we have had to wait so long for a Spanish translation. Part of the answer lies in the mystery which surrounds the author, part in the content of the work.

The true identity and even the very existence of Girolamo Benzoni have given rise to doubts. Known as the “Milanese sailor,” he left European shores in 1541 at the age of twenty-two and spent fourteen years in America. Far too much has been written concerning the “enigma of the Milanese sailor.” Suffice it to say that Humboldt did not doubt his identity or existence. Nor does León Croizat, who has provided a lengthy estudio preliminar for this edition in which he reviews the history of Benzoni and his work. Without a doubt Benzoni plagiarized or used the accounts of previous chroniclers, a fact which he himself did not deny. This is a partly or largely true account by one who was a first-hand witness to many events, however, and it is of singular value for ethnographic history. Etymologists as well as historians will profit from this work. Benzoni shows that Venezuela should not be referred to or translated as “Little Venice,” but rather as “Little Valencia” (Valenzuola). His infectious enthusiasm compelled him to write in praise of the natural beauty of that country in prose rivaled only by Columbus.

Unquestionably, Benzoni was an Italian chauvinist; nevertheless, the book was written in an impartial tone. And this is precisely why Benzoni ran into trouble with the authorities in Spain. He gives the Spaniards praise where due, but he also points out their faults—shortcomings, which when they were printed, contributed to the dissemination and perpetuation of the Leyenda Negra. He certainly did not endear himself to the Holy Office of the Inquisition with such statements as “que donde quiera que los españoles han desplegado sus banderas, han dejado recuerdo de grandísima crueldad y huella de odio perpetuo entre los naturales” (p. 94); or “los españoles han dominado y conquistado estas naciones Indias; a pesar de que tanto se jactaban en sus historias de haber siempre combatido por la fe cristiana, la experiencia . . . demuestra abiertamente que han combatido por la codicia. . .” (p. 153).

The Historia consists of three libros plus a brief discourse on the Canary Islands. In the first book Benzoni describes Hispaniola and the region around the Gulf of Paria, giving essentially a resumé of Columbus’ explorations and the early history of Spain in America. This account leans heavily on the works of Oviedo, López de Gómara, Peter Martyr, and Cieza de León, all of which were probably familiar to Benzoni because they appeared in Italian editions.

The second book is the closest thing to “pure Benzoni.” Most of the material here had not appeared in the works of previous writers and provides Benzoni partisans with their strongest arguments for the author’s participation in American adventures (as well as his actual existence). His accounts of the natives of Hispaniola, the overland trip he took from Acla to Panama, and his participation in the expedition to Sucre, all have an air of authenticity.

Book Three recounts the discovery and conquest of Peru (Prescott utilized this as a source), and the fights and rivalries which followed. Benzoni was definitely not partial to Pizarro. This section is obviously based on López de Gómara. It is a historical synthesis interspersed with personal observations—and personal idiosyncrasies— which the translator believes were introduced to suggest originality. Toward the end of this third book Benzoni presents an amplification and enlargement of Cieza de León’s Crónica del Perú.

The translator has furnished a profusion of explanatory notes for which the twentieth-century reader will be grateful. Not only do we have a long-awaited Spanish translation, but one which approaches an annotated edition.