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This series focuses on colonial Latin America and the Caribbean. It includes historical and statistical reference works from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, reports describing scientific, archaeological and ethnological expeditions and editions of accounts from the earliest period of European settlement.

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66 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Latin American Studies

Page 3 of 4

Reisen in Britisch-Guiana in den Jahren 1840–1844
  • In Auftrag Sr. Mäjestat des Königs von Preussen
  • Volume 1
  • Richard Schomburgk
  • Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1847
  • Richard Schomburgk (1811–1891) accompanied his brother Robert Hermann Schomburgk on his mission to survey the boundary of British Guiana (his account is also reissued in this series). Richard was commissioned by the Prussian government to find new flora, fauna and ethnographical specimens for the Berlin Botanic Gardens and the royal museums. The publication in 1847–1848 in Germany of this three-volume account of the expedition was supported by Alexander von Humboldt, who was a close friend. The third volume especially was considered a major taxonomical work. Schomburgk contracted yellow fever, and found the preservation and transportation of his specimens difficult in the climate, many perishing before they got to Germany. Schomburgk later emigrated to Australia, becoming director of the Botanic Garden, Adelaide. Volume 1 covers the arrival in Guiana, and expeditions to the mouths of the Orinoco and Essequibo rivers.

Selections from the Works of the Baron de Humboldt, Relating to the Climate, Inhabitants, Productions, and Mines of Mexico
  • Alexander von Humboldt
  • Edited by John Taylor
  • Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1824
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was one of the most respected scientists of his time; Darwin called him 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. From 1799 Humboldt spent five years exploring the Americas, reporting his findings in thirty volumes, published over a period of more than twenty years from 1805. His Essai Politique, describing northern New Spain, particularly Mexico, was one of the first studies of a single country written to take account of both its history, its society and its political development. In 1824, the English mining engineer John Taylor published this abridged translation, combining it with passages from Humboldt's Geognostical Essay on the Superposition of Rocks in order to provide a focussed account of Mexico's mining concerns and opportunities. Including detailed maps, this work contains exhaustive statistics, particularly with regard to trade, agriculture and mining, alongside geographical studies and observations on the population and government.

The World's Cane Sugar Industry
  • Past and Present
  • H. C. Prinsen Geerligs
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    18 November 2010
    First published in:
    1912
  • H. C. Prinsen Geerligs (b.1864) was a Dutch microbiologist and Director of the Sugar Experiment Station in Java, an important research centre at the heart of the sugar industry. A leading expert in the production of sugar and the workings of the international market, Geerligs presents a detailed and comprehensive history of the industry, from its ancient origins through to the early twentieth century. Developing into a global industry during a time of great turbulence, the story of sugar interweaves with the history of slavery and colonial expansion, and into an age where science revolutionised production methods. As well as detailing the survival and growth of the industry through wars, piracy, conquest and social change, this book includes detailed country-by-country studies of the state of the industry in 1912 when the book was first published. A fascinating portrait of industrial and commercial history from an expert eyewitness.

Travels in Chile and La Plata
  • Including Accounts Respecting the Geography, Geology, Statistics, Government, Finances, Agriculture, Manners and Customs, and the Mining Operations in Chile
  • Volume 1
  • John Miers
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1826
  • The botanist and mining engineer John Miers (1789–1879) published Travels in Chile and La Plata in 2 volumes in 1826. The work is an account of his travels and residence in Chile between 1818 and 1825 and his investigations into the cultural, political, geographical and botanical aspects of the country. Richly illustrated with maps and his own drawings, the work is most valuable for the data it contains from Miers' research into the plants and birds he found there, including drawings and descriptions of many species previously unknown to the West. Volume 1 also contains the main travel account of his journey from England to Chile, geographical descriptions of the places he explored there, and an account of his plans and negotiations to build a copper-refining plant. The work is a rich source of botanical information and offers an insight into Victorian perceptions of Chile.

Travels in Chile and La Plata
  • Including Accounts Respecting the Geography, Geology, Statistics, Government, Finances, Agriculture, Manners and Customs, and the Mining Operations in Chile
  • Volume 2
  • John Miers
  • Published online:
    25 October 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1826
  • The botanist and mining engineer John Miers (1789–1879) published Travels in Chile and La Plata in 2 volumes in 1826. The work is an account of his travels and residence in Chile between 1818 and 1825 and his investigations into the cultural, political, geographical and botanical aspects of the country. Richly illustrated with maps and his own drawings, the work is most valuable for the data it contains from Miers' research into the plants and birds he found there, including drawings and descriptions of many species previously unknown to the West. Volume 2 also gives an account of Chile's political and economic history; its religion and culture; its trade, agriculture and mining; and contains an appendix listing the plants and animals he examined. The work is both a rich source for geographical and botanical information and offers an insight into Victorian perceptions of Chile.

The History of Barbados
  • Comprising a Geographical and Statistical Description of the Island; a Sketch of the Historical Events since the Settlement; and an Account of its Geology and Natural Productions
  • Robert Hermann Schomburgk
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1848
  • Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804–1865) was a German-born surveyor and traveller. In 1835–1839 he explored British Guiana for the Royal Geographical Society, and in 1840 he was appointed to define its boundaries with Brazil. Knighted for his work, he then visited Barbados for the Barbados General Railway Company, publishing The History of Barbados in 1848. This substantial work contains - unsurprisingly given his background - a great deal more than a chronological narrative of the settlement and history of the island. He begins with a geographical analysis, statistical information, and an examination of the political and sociological state of Barbados. The third part is on the geology, mineral resources, and natural history of the colony. Although physically small, Barbados was extremely important both to British imperial policies and to her economy, playing a key role in the Atlantic trade routes, particularly for sugar.

The English in the West Indies
  • Or, The Bow of Ulysses
  • James Anthony Froude
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1888
  • James Anthony Froude was one of the foremost Victorian historians in England, though he was often controversial and opinionated, especially towards Catholicism. His biography of Carlyle in 1884, with his emphasis on Carlyle's weaknesses as well as his brilliance, caused lasting offence to many. He then began travelling in British colonies, which led to the publication of Oceana (1886) and The English in the West Indies (1888) which combined anecdotes and observations with Froude's opinions on the British Empire. The latter provoked many angry responses to his views on how the colonies should be governed. He favoured self-government, but feared that democracy would cause the British islands to go the same way as French Haiti, stating that black rule in Grenada would led to a rapid return to savagery. Apart from his political opinions, the book contains interesting and vivid descriptions of the islands and their inhabitants.

Present State of the Spanish Colonies
  • Including a Particular Report of Hispañola, or the Spanish Part of Santo Domingo
  • Volume 1
  • William Walton
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    06 January 2011
    First published in:
    1810
  • William Walton (?1783–1857) was British agent at Santo Domingo (Haiti), one of the two states on the island of Hispaniola, over which the British had briefly fought with the French before it proclaimed its independence in 1804. Returning to England in 1809 he began to write on Spanish and South American affairs. This work was published in two volumes in 1810. Volume 1 deals with Hispaniola, which was settled by both the Spanish and French, and officially divided in 1697. Haiti was now independent, but the other part (now the Dominican Republic) remained under Spanish control until 1821. Walton discusses the history and geography of the island, and particularly the natural resources and wildlife. The rebellion of Haiti had seriously damaged the economy, which had been thriving, and more successfully exploiting the island's resources than the larger Spanish colony. Walton's object was to encourage the growth of trade between Britain and the region.

Reisen in Britisch-Guiana in den Jahren 1840–1844
  • In Auftrag Sr. Mäjestat des Königs von Preussen
  • Volume 2
  • Richard Schomburgk
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1848
  • Richard Schomburgk (1811–1891) accompanied his brother Robert Hermann Schomburgk on his mission to survey the boundary of British Guiana (his account is also reissued in this series). Richard was commissioned by the Prussian government to find new flora, fauna and ethnographical specimens for the Berlin Botanic Gardens and the royal museums. The publication in 1847–1848 in Germany of this three-volume account of the expedition was supported by Alexander von Humboldt, who was a close friend. The third volume epecially was considered a major taxonomical work. Schomburgk contracted yellow fever, and found the preservation and transportation of his specimens difficult in the climate, many perishing before they got to Germany. Schomburgk later emigrated to Australia, becoming director of the Botanic Garden, Adelaide. Volume 2 includes studies of the customs and languages of native tribes, and further explorations.

Journal of a Voyage to Brazil, and Residence There, During Part of the Years 1821, 1822, 1823
  • Maria Callcott
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    09 September 2010
    First published in:
    1824
  • The daughter of a naval officer, throughout her life Maria Graham (later Callcott) combined her passion for adventure with a diligent attention to scholarship and self-improvement. A talented linguist, children's author, travel writer and self-confessed 'tomboy', by the time Journal of a Voyage to Brazil was published in 1824 she had already penned successful travel diaries for both India and Italy. A perceptive observer, her accessible style made her popular with readers in Britain. Here, Graham combines a history of Brazil with her personal impressions of the politics and people of Madeira, Tenerife, and South America. A friend of Turner and Eastlake, her own artistic talents are evident in the numerous plates that punctuate her vivid account. From slave markets to dragon trees and graveyards, every significant aspect of her personal experiences and observations is relayed to the reader in an absorbing succession of words and images.

A Description of British Guiana, Geographical and Statistical
  • Exhibiting its Resources and Capabilities, Together with the Present and Future Condition and Prospects of the Colony
  • Robert Hermann Schomburgk
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1840
  • Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804–1865) was a German-born surveyor and traveller. In 1835–1839 he explored British Guiana for the Royal Geographical Society. In 1840 he was appointed to define its boundaries with Brazil, as Brazilian encroachments were wiping out native tribes. His report to the Colonial Office was published as A Description of British Guiana, Geographical and Statistical in 1840, and was the first detailed account of the colony. As well as surveying the land, and being the first European to reach the source of the Essequibo River, he discovered many new species of plants. His work on the boundaries led to the establishment of the 'Schomburgk Line' which was the basis for the definition of the borders with Brazil and Venezuela at the end of the century. He was knighted in 1845, and spent much of the rest of his life abroad as a British consul.

Dutch Guiana
  • William Gifford Palgrave
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    23 December 2010
    First published in:
    1876
  • William Gifford Palgrave (1826–1888) was a renowned traveller and Arabic scholar. After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1846 he received a lieutenant's commission in the 8th Bombay Regiment of native infantry, but he converted to Roman Catholicism, and settled in Syria as a missionary in 1855, during which time he travelled across Arabia. After renouncing Catholicism in 1865, he began a career with the British foreign service, working in several positions in the Far East. This volume, first published in 1876, contains Palgrave's account of his visit to Dutch Guiana, now the South American country of Suriname. Arranging his material according to geographic location, Palgrave describes in detail the society and geography of the country, discussing the treatment of former slaves and describing the unique Maroon culture of former slaves and indigenous people. This volume provides fascinating information on the society and culture of this uniquely diverse country.

An Account of the Present State of the Island of Puerto Rico
  • George D. Flinter
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1834
  • George Dawson Flinter (d. 1838) served in the British army, before working for the Spanish crown. In both capacities he spent time in the West Indies, and was well placed to write about the region, and compare the different colonies. He published a report on slavery in Puerto Rico in Spanish in 1832, and this more wide-ranging report on the island in English in 1834. Addressed to the King of Spain, the work shows considerable bias in his flattering interpretation of Spanish policies towards Puerto Rico, and he downplays the degree to which the colony was involved in the slave trade. His description of the island and its natural resources makes it seem like a paradise, as Spain was trying to encourage further settlement. But he provides a good picture of the way of life of the different social and racial groups of inhabitants, and much detail about trade.

Secret History
  • Or, the Horrors of St. Domingo, in a Series of Letters
  • Mary Hassal
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1808
  • Leonora Mary Hassal Sansay (b. 1781), also known as Mary Hassal, was U.S. Vice-President Aaron Burr's niece. This work, first published in 1808, takes the form of a series of letters to her uncle, describing the events which she witnessed between 1802 and 1805 in the French colony of St Domingo, which became the Republic of Haiti in 1804 after a fierce revolution. A large French army under General Leclerc was sent by Napoleon to retake the colony from the ex-slave Toussaint Louverture and his army. Hassal depicts life under the French occupation, and also in Cuba and Jamaica, to which many settlers from St Domingo fled. She comments particularly on the position and occupations of women, but regrets their subjection to and dependence on men. The tone is anecdotal, but the volume will be of interest to social historians as an eyewitness account of a turbulent period.

Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent
  • During the Years 1799–1804
  • Volume 2
  • Alexander von Humboldt, Aimé Bonpland
  • Translated by Helen Maria Williams
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1814
  • The Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was one of the most famous explorers of his generation. Charles Darwin called him 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. In 1799, Humboldt and the botanist Aimé Bonpland secured permission from the Spanish crown for a voyage to South America. They left from Madrid and spent five years exploring the continent. Humboldt reported his findings in a total of thirty volumes, published in French over a period of more than twenty years beginning in 1805. This English translation by Helen Maria Williams of one important component of Humboldt's account, the Relation historique du voyage (1814–1825), consists of seven volumes and was published in London between 1814 and 1829. Volume 2 (1814) contains extensive physical observations of latitude, longitude, weather conditions and ocean temperature recorded during the voyage, and describes the expedition's arrival in Venezuela.

Researches, Concerning the Institutions and Monuments of the Ancient Inhabitants of America, with Descriptions and Views of Some of the Most Striking Scenes in the Cordilleras!
  • Volume 1
  • Alexander von Humboldt
  • Translated by Helen Maria Williams
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1814
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an internationally respected scientist and explorer whose meticulous approach to scientific observation greatly influenced later research. He travelled the world, once staying at the White House as a guest of Thomas Jefferson, and is commemorated in the many species and places which bear his name. This two volume work, published in French in 1810 as Vue des Cordillères, and in this English translation in 1814, was one of the many publications that resulted from Humboldt's expedition to Latin America in 1799–1804. It describes geographical features such as volcanoes and waterfalls, and aspects of the indigenous cultures including architecture, sculpture, art, languages and writing systems, religions, costumes and artefacts. This approachable, closely observed travelogue vividly recounts a huge variety of impressions and experiences, and reveals Humboldt's boundless curiosity as well as his scientific and cultural knowledge.

Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España
  • Volume 3
  • Bernardino de Sahagûn
  • Edited by Carlos Maria de Bustamante
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    27 January 2011
    First published in:
    1830
  • Friar Bernardino Sahagûn was in 1529 one of the first Catholic missionaries to the Aztecs. During his sojourn in Mexico he came to speak Nahuatl (the native language) fluently and to understand the Aztec culture, customs, religion and infrastructure intimately. He compiled the largest and most richly detailed record of the Aztecs and their history before the civilisation was wiped out by the Spanish conquest, and Sahagûn is sometimes considered 'the father of ethnology', as his study was the first to derive from the subjects' own point of view, through using native informants in his research. The work, written in 1540, was originally an illustrated manuscript of twelve books in a combination of Nahuatl and Spanish; this version, in Spanish only, was first published in 1829. This final volume contains a full natural history and geological description, general Aztec history, and a catalogue of spirits, demons and religious figures.

Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent
  • During the Years 1799–1804
  • Volume 5
  • Alexander von Humboldt, Aimé Bonpland
  • Translated by Helen Maria Williams
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1821
  • The Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was one of the most famous explorers of his generation. Charles Darwin called him 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. In 1799, Humboldt and the botanist Aimé Bonpland secured permission from the Spanish crown for a voyage to South America. They left from Madrid and spent five years exploring the continent. Humboldt reported his findings in a total of thirty volumes, published in French over a period of more than twenty years beginning in 1805. This English translation by Helen Maria Williams of one important component of Humboldt's account, the Relation historique du voyage (1814–1825), consists of seven volumes and was published in London between 1814 and 1829. Volume 5 (1821) describes Humboldt's travels through the Orinoco basin and across several sets of rapids, and the indigenous people, missionaries, animals and plants he encountered on the journey.

Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent
  • During the Years 1799–1804
  • Volume 4
  • Alexander von Humboldt, Aimé Bonpland
  • Translated by Helen Maria Williams
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1819
  • The Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was one of the most famous explorers of his generation. Charles Darwin called him 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. In 1799, Humboldt and the botanist Aimé Bonpland secured permission from the Spanish crown for a voyage to South America. They left from Madrid and spent five years exploring the continent. Humboldt reported his findings in a total of thirty volumes, published in French over a period of more than twenty years beginning in 1805. This English translation by Helen Maria Williams of one important component of Humboldt's account, the Relation historique du voyage (1814–1825), consists of seven volumes and was published in London between 1814 and 1829. Volume 4 (1819) describes an earthquake in Caracas (which Humboldt links to the volcanoes of the West Indies), and mountains, plains, hot springs and river systems observed as the expedition travelled onwards.

Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent
  • During the Years 1799–1804
  • Volume 1
  • Alexander von Humboldt, Aimé Bonpland
  • Translated by Helen Maria Williams
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1814
  • The Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was one of the most famous explorers of his generation. Charles Darwin called him 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. In 1799, Humboldt and the botanist Aimé Bonpland secured permission from the Spanish crown for a voyage to South America. They left from Madrid and spent five years exploring the continent. Humboldt reported his findings in a total of thirty volumes, published in French over a period of more than twenty years beginning in 1805. This English translation by Helen Maria Williams of one important component of Humboldt's account, the Relation historique du voyage (1814–1825), consists of seven volumes and was published in London between 1814 and 1829. Volume 1 describes the beginning of the expedition, its departure from Spain, experiments conducted on board ship, and the scientists' arrival in the Canary Islands and exploration of Tenerife.

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