A first edition, second issue, good example of the very rare account of Francisco Pizarro’s conquest of Peru by Levinus Appolonius, with the folding map of America often lacking. The work was first published in 1566, this second issue is identical except for the date change on the title page. Little is known of Appolonius other than he was born near Bruges and purported to be a traveller himself. He died on the Canary Islands whilst on a journey to Peru.

The book details the conquest of Peru by Pizarro (1478-1541) from the first expedition in 1524. It records the battles that entailed and the capture of the Inca capital Cusco. Also, the conflicts between Pizarro’s supporter Alonso de Alvarado (1500-56) and Diego de Almagro (c.1475-1538) for control of the city in 1537. The infamous brutal assassination of Pizarro in 1541 followed by the arrival of Pedro de la Gasca (1485-1567) as peacemaker. It extends to include the arrival of the first Viceroy of Peru Blasco Nunez Vela (d.1546) in 1542. 

The book includes an important early map of the American continent in its second state with ‘Peru’ written horizontally instead of vertically. First published in 1554 in Antwerp, the ‘Brevis Exactaq Totius Novie Orbis Et Perviiae’ was produced for Lopez de Gomara’s ‘La Historia General de las Indias’. It is remarkable for the abundance of placenames displayed in comparison to earlier maps of the continent.

In North America these largely derive from the travels of three people. Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon (c.1480-1526) attempted a settlement in the region of present-day South Carolina and Georgia which lasted only a few months until his death there. Estevao Gomes (c.1483-1538) had been a pilot on Ferdinand Magellan’s circumnavigation before falling out with him and returning to Spain from the Strait of Magellan. In 1525 he “set sail to find a passage to Asia and explored the region of New England. About the voyage of João Alvarez Fagundes, little is known; his landfall is believed to have been the Gulf of St. Lawrence.” (Burden). The Azores are shown far too close to the continent and no west coast of North America is depicted.

The extensive nomenclature in South America reflects the expanding exploration of the Spanish along the west coast. Pedro Gutierrez de Valdivia (1497-1553) had led an expedition as far as present-day Chile where he defeated many native people in a battle. In 1541 he founded Santiago, but the last name present here is his own. Knowledge of the River Plate derives from the voyage of Sebastian Cabot (c.1476-1557) and his world map of 1544. It is interesting to note that while the depiction is similar, Bellere drew the Amazon curiously flowing north as in the Nicolai map published in the same year. This feature had drawn on Giacomo Gastaldi’s world map of 1546. The Andes are displayed as are three llamas in the interior. The whole is adorned with the double-headed eagle holding the coat of arms of Castile and Leon.

The map was also included in Pedro de Cieza de León’s ‘La chronica del Peru’, 1554, and Gilles Boileau de Buillon’s ‘La sphere des deux mondes’, in 1555. Bellere was involved in all these publications. Its next appearance is in this work by Appolonius for which ‘Peru’ was re-orientated on the block. Provenance: Richard B. Arkway Inc. 2001; Juan and Peggy Rada Collection. Brown (1980-97) no. 567/3; Burden (1996) no. 20 & (2007) p. viii; not in Church (1907) no. 101; Ganong (1964) pp. 174-89; Howgego (2003); Sabin (1868) no. 1761n; Suárez (1992) p. 92; Tooley’s Dictionary (1999-2004).