Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/32

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14
BLAS VALERA—COBOS

without the name of the author. He published it under the name of the 'Anonymous Jesuit.' Dr. Gonzalez de la Rosa has brought forward arguments, which appear to be quite conclusive, and which are given in another place, that the anonymous Jesuit was no other than Blas Valera. Another work of the learned mestizo, also lost, was entitled 'Vocabulario Historico del Peru.' It was brought from Cadiz to the college of La Paz in 1604, by the Procurador of the Jesuits, named Diego Torres Vasquez. It was this work that contained the long lists of kings. This is clear from the statement of Father Anello Oliva in his history of distinguished men of the Company of Jesus,[1] written in 1631. Oliva had seen the 'Vocabulario Historico del Peru,' and learnt from it the great antiquity of the Peruvian kingdom. Montesinos no doubt copied his list from the 'Vocabulario,' which was then at La Paz. The premature death of Blas Valera, and the disposal of his valuable manuscripts, is the most deplorable loss that the history of Inca civilisation has sustained.

The work of a more recent author has come to light through the diligence of Jimenez de la Espada. This is the history of the New World by Father Bernabe Cobos,[2] in four large volumes.

  1. Historia del Peru y Varones Insignes en santidad de la Compania de Jesus por el Padre Anello Oliva de la misma compania. Published by Señor Varela, at Lima.
  2. Printed at Seville in 1900 by the Sociedad de Bibliofilos Andaluces and edited by Don Marcos Jimenez de la Espada.