Lot 161: TAPIA, DIEGO DE.

TAPIA, DIEGO DE. CONFESSONARIO EN LENGUA CUMANAGOTA, Y DE OTRAS NACIONES DE INDIOS DE LA PROVINCIA DE CUMANA. MADRID: PEDRO FERNANDEZ, 1723 First edition, 8vo (145 x 92mm.), full-page woodcut of the Virgin and child, nineteenth-century morocco, gilt edges, [Alden 723/156; Medina, BHA 2490; Palau 327303; Sabin 94346], Y3 cropped with partial loss of catchword

A rare work, written in Spanish and Cumanagota, the language spoken by the Indians living on the banks of the Orinoco in the old province of Cumana in Venezuela, for the use of Franciscan missionaries. The author lived among the Indians for some twenty-eight years. The work, running to over 700 pages, contains a wealth of information on Indian civilization and the cultural clash between the natives and missionaries.