484 years ago, “The Prince of Writers of the New World” was born and the National Library of Peru (BNP) protects and preserves his works, as well as disseminating his valuable legacy.
Known as “The first mestizo of universal personality and ancestry that gave birth to America” or as “The prince of the writers of the New World”, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega marked a before and after in Peruvian, Spanish-American and world literature.
He was born on April 12, 1539, in Cusco (former capital of the Inca empire) and the National Library of Peru (BNP) commemorates the 484 years of his birth by protecting and conserving his works and disseminating his legacy, which makes it even greater. the history of our country.
Thus, for example, in the Vault of the Old Fund of the first independent cultural institution of Peru we find his most emblematic work “Royal Commentaries of the Incas”, a book printed in 1609 and which is part of the collection of the historian Raúl Porras Barrenechea.
This work deals with the origin of the Incas, their beliefs, laws and government. It is considered the beginning of Creole thought. A peculiarity to highlight in the copy kept by the BNP is the engraving of the shield designed by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, where there are Andean and Hispanic elements.
Precisely, in June 2022, the Ministry of Culture, accepting a request from the BNP, declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation 50 bibliographic documents referring to the Peruvian viceregal period, including this first part of the “Royal Commentaries of the Incas” (1609 ).
MORE OF HIS GREAT WORKS
Other works of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega that the BNP conserves and protects in its Vault of the Old Fund are:
* General history of Peru, deals with its discovery and how the Spaniards won it: the civil wars that took place between Pizarros and Almagros on the partition of the land. Punishment, and uprising of tyrans, and other particular events, which are contained in history (1st ed., 1617).
*La Florida del Inca: History of the Adelantado, Hernando de Soto, Governor, and Captain General of the Kingdom of Florida, and other heroic knights, Spanish and Indian (2nd ed., 1723).
*The royal commentary or the history of the Yncas, roys dv Perv; containing their origin (1ra. ed. en inglés, 1633).
*History of the civil glasses of the Spaniards in the Indies; caused by the underflows of picarres and almagres; followed by many Desolations, hardly believable; Arrived at the PERV by Ambition, & by the Auarice of the Conquerens of this great Empire (1650).
*The Royal Commentaries of Peru in two parts, the first part treating of the original of their Incas or kings…, the second part, describing the manner by which that new world was conquered by the Spaniard (1688).
*Los Comentarios Reales (1st. Peruvian ed., in 6 volumes, 1918-20).
CONVERSATION
In addition, the BNP’s virtual platform Memoria Perú, which contains part of the country’s historical and cultural heritage, will hold the discussion “Inca Garcilaso de la Vega” on Tuesday, April 25, with the participation of historian Jorge Huamán and the writer Raquel Chang-Rodriguez.
It will be broadcast via Facebook Live of the BNP, starting at 5:00 pm Here the works of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega will be explained and how the narrator and humanist historian converge in said writer, generator of utopias, which explains the prohibition of the reading of the “Royal Commentaries of the Incas”, after the rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, in the 18th century, and its influence on the process of Peruvian Emancipation.
A LITTLE OF YOU HISTORY
He was the son of the Spanish conquistador Captain Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega and the Inca princess Isabel Chimpu Ocllo, great-granddaughter of the Inca Túpac Yupanqui and granddaughter of the Inca Huayna Cápac. His baptismal name was Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, but he would change it to Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.
After a series of vicissitudes and at the age of 20, he left Cusco for Lima and from there he would embark on a risky journey that almost cost him his life. He managed to become a captain like his dad. In 1590 he laid down his arms, entered religion, and frequented humanistic circles.
His first book was “La Traducción del Indio de los Tres Diálogos de Amor de León Hebreo” (1590) and is considered the first literary work of superlative value made by an American in Europe. He knew Luis de Góngora and, probably, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who may have read some of his work. He died in Córdoba-Spain, on April 23, 1616.