Mexico And The Life Of The Conqueror Fernando Cortes In Two Volumes

B&W Illustrations; This is a two volume set - part of the Nations of the World set. The books are in Very Good condition and were possibly issued without dust jackets. The spine ends and corners of the book covers have some light bumping, rubbing and wear, along with some beginnning fraying. The text pages are clean and bright. Both volumes have a previous owner's inked notation of ownership on the front endpapers. "William Hickling Prescott (May 4, 1796 – January 28, 1859) was an American historian and Hispanist, who is widely recognized by historiographers to have been the first American scientific historian. Despite having serious visual impairment, which at times prevented him from reading or writing for himself, Prescott became one of the most eminent historians of 19th century America. He is also noted for his eidetic memory, also called "Photographic Memory". After an extensive period of study, during which he sporadically contributed to academic journals, Prescott specialized in late Renaissance Spain and the early Spanish Empire. His works on the subject, The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (1837) , The History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843) , A History of the Conquest of Peru (1847) and the unfinished History of the Reign of Phillip II (1856–1858) have become classic works in the field, and have had a great impact on the study of both Spain and Mesoamerica. During his lifetime, he was upheld as one of the greatest living American intellectuals, and knew personally many of the leading political figures of the day, in both the United States and Britain." (from Wikipedia).…