American History Books

AMERIGO: The Man Who Gave His Name to America
by Felipe Fernandex-Armesto. B&W photo section. Condition: NEW 2006 Orion hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Content: The author has done an excellent job of writing a concise and beautifully articulate account on Amerigo, the man who gave his name to America. However, I think the subtitle should perhaps be- The man who finagled getting his name stamped upon America. This biography offers a wealth of information about Renaissance Florence, Seville and the famous characters of history that many know; yet, few seldom realize how much they overlapped each other. Due to a limited amount of factual documentation on Amerigo, Felipe needed to fill a book with additional facts, yet it was not done to simply fill out a volume, but rather to fill out the times, the mindset, and the world of Amerigo and his famous contemporaries. This includes Columbus, the Medici family, Toscanelli, Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as important men like Gianotto Berardi, the banker who along invested his life and financial resources for Columbus, but met financial disaster instead. Amerigo happened to work for Berardi, and after this financial debacle, he was forced to make an occupational shift in direction. That journey took him westward, in the footsteps of Columbus and eventually led to worldwide fame, as his name supplanted the New World's rightful hero to indelibly mark two huge continents. [1 copy available]
$ 6.79 + $ 3.19 media shipping. International shipping available.

PAINTER IN A SAVAGE LAND: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America
by Miles Harvey (Island of Lost Maps). B&W woodcuts and illustrations. Condition: NEW 2008 Random House hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Tiny remainder dot bottom edges at spine. Content: From a doomed French fort on what became the site for Jacksonville, Florida, to the streets of Paris and London, where Huguenots and Lutherans were burned at the stake, to the auction rooms of Sotheby’s, the dramatic story of the long-lost artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues is a veritable tale of nine lives. Historian Harvey (The Island of Lost Maps, 2000) marvels at the “epic strangeness” of his subject’s complicated life story. Le Moyne was the first artist sent to North America when he set sail from Le Havre in 1564 with 300 men sent to stake a claim for France in Florida but fated to suffer starvation and violent death. Le Moyne not only survived and returned home; he also managed to create marvelously stylized drawings of the tragically doomed Timucuan people. He then escaped religious persecution in France and found sanctuary in London, where he became a leading botanical artist and advisor to Walter Raleigh. It’s one astonishing discovery after another as Harvey retrieves the buried truth about Le Moyne and chronicles the nearly miraculous preservation of his work. With hugely entertaining side journeys, energetic analysis, and a diabolical surprise ending, Harvey’s groundbreaking, fun-to-read biography blows the dust off significant swathes of history and makes for a rousing read. Questions welcome [1 copy available]
$ 7.49 + $ 3.29 media shipping.

THE TRUE STORY OF HOW AMERICA GOT ITS NAME (or Terra Incognita: the True Story of How America Got Its Name)
by Rodney Broome. B&W maps and illustrations. Condition: NEW 2001 MJF hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first printing. Please note that this book has been published before with another name. Content: This is the telling of history from another point of view, connecting the dots between voyages, ships, cargoes & paymasters. If you like to know the who, why, when & how of historical things & events, then this book will thrill you. Into this little book is packed a ton of trivia that is both fascinating & extra-ordinary, about the exploration of the world from the "Twelve Wooden Plates" upon which a new map was secured for printing & what Amerigo Vespucci had to do with them, to "The Commercial Revolution" in which the Black Plague had people sailing away in fleets to the farthest reaches of the globe, to "A Young Genoan Arrives in Bristol" being excerpts from journals of the icon of exploration to "Bristol Ships in Lisbon and Huelva" where Christopher Columbus had been dwelling, to "Shipshape and Bristol Fashion" wherein a medieval proverb comes to life & so on into the stuff of legends, all the facts & the fictions. Very well done...a superb history of mapmakers & voyagers...certainly for every history buff, & anyone interested in writing about merchant seamen, explorers & maps. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.49 + $3.09 media shipping.

A SHORT GUIDE TO WRITING ABOUT HISTORY (Second Edition)
by Richard Marius. Condition: NEW 1994 second edition, first printing Trade Paperback (205 pages). Content: Perfect for any history course that requires writing as it stresses thinking and writing like an historian. This engaging and practical little text helps the readers get beyond merely compiling dates and facts; it teaches them how to incorporate their own ideas into their papers and to tell a story about history that is interesting and accurate. [1 copy available]
$ 6.89 + $ 3.09 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.