Author:
Léry, Jean de, 1534-1611.
Edition Statement:2nd ed., 1580
Imprint:[Charleston, SC] : FB Editions [printed by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform], [2015]
Description249 p. ; 24 cm.
Note:Title originally published 1578. This is a reprint of the second edition, published 1580.
Note:A classic account of the contact period in the Americas. The protagonists were the first Protestant missionaries to the New World (1556) and the Tupinamba in a region of Brazil characterized by Gallo-Portuguese rivalry for control of dyewood. Lery belonged to the Calvinist Reformed Church of Geneva and lived among the Tupinamba during part of his two years in Brazil. Sandwiched between his stirring accounts of the outward and homeward voyages is a detailed and meticulous first-hand account of the New World as seen by a remarkably impartial observer and humanist. Lery was fascinated by the richness and diversity of the flora and fauna of Brazil, but the heart of his account is the precise ethnography of the Tupinamba. In addition to describing the phases of the life cycle, Lery placed emphasis on a civil order based on trust and on the central importance of the concept and practice of hospitality. Only Tupinamba cosmogony and mythology received less than adequate treatment. Lery did not shy from drawing comparisons to Europe and his account of the "noble savages" should be read against the background of a Europe torn by religious strife and violence.
