1. New World Foods
Coe, Sophie D.
America’s First Cuisines
. Texas: University of Texas Press 1994. This is an excellent book on the contribution made by the first inhabitants in America to the present world. It mentions the flora and fauna, and it goes from the ingredients to the menus.
Crosby Jr., Alfred W.,
The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492
. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1972. This is a jewel. I found it at the Kline Science Library. It is very objective, factual and easy to read. It provides details on flowers, fruits, vegetables, animals, and bacteria and how they adapted to the exchange.
Fuentes, Carlos
The Buried Mirror—Reflections on Spain and the New World
. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1992: 203-7. This is Carlos Fuentes’ first book in English. It is informative and a delight to read. The pages indicated provide information about food. I recommend reading the whole book.
Organization of American States, “What’s Cooking in the Americas—Que se esta cocinando en las Americas?” Calendar. Washington, D.C. 1992. An excellent calendar with a fruit or vegetable colorful picture for each month, plus anecdotes and recipes in both English and Spanish. You may request copies by writing to the OAS, Wash.D.C. 20006.
Rozin, Elisabeth.
Blue Corn and Chocolate
. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1992. This is a cookbook with 175 recipes featuring “new world” ingredients. It provides descriptions of some of the ingredients.
2. A Trip to the Marketplace
Carrero Perez, Luis Maria,
La Ciudad de los Dioses
. Madrid: Universidad de Salamanca, 1991. Historical fiction in simplified Spanish for beginners.
Diaz del Castillo, Bernal,
Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana
. Madrid: Imprenta del Rey, 1632. It is available to be seen at the Rare Book collection at Yale University.
Diaz del Castillo, Bernal,
Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espana.
Madrid: Instituto Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, 1982. This is a good copy to share with the students. It is a big, red book with the old look. It has two versions of the book, side by side. The manuscrito Remon and the marzuscrito Guatemala. The excerpt included is from the former. The latter is difficult to read, but fun to look at.
Diaz, Bernal,
The Conquest of New Spain,
trans. Cohen, J.M. London: Penguin Books, 1963. This is a popular translation of the book.
3. Poetry and Art
Poetry
Alcina Franch, Jose.
Mitos y Literatura Azteca
. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1989. This little book has many of the poems translated into Spanish by Angel Maria Garibay and Miguel Leon Portilla. It also has theatre and short stories.
Launey, Michel.
Introduction a la Langue et a la Litterature Azteques—Tome 1: grammaire
. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1979. This is a grammar on the Aztec language.
Leon-Portilla, Miguel.
Trece Poetas del Mundo Azteca
. Mexico: UNAM, 1967: 4952. The pages indicated have the poems in the unit. There are many other poems, comments and pictures. There is an English translation to the book, ironically called, Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World by University of Oklahoma Press.
Osuna Ruiz, Rafael.
Introduccion a la lirica prehispanica
. Maracaibo: Editorial Universitaria de la Universidad del Zulia, 1968. It provides an in depth analysis of the Quechua and Nahuatl literary languages.
Townsend, Richard F.
The Aztecs
. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1992. Informative about art and literature with black & white pictures.
Art
Gruzinski, Serge.
LAmerique de la Conquete. peinte par les Indiens du Mexique
. This book is in French, but it has big and beautiful illustrations. It even has two fold out pages, representing a full color Aztec accordion book with instructions on how to read it. Large and detailed pictures of Netzahualcoyotl.
Levenson, Jay A.
Circa 1492—Art in the Age of Exploration
. This is a big art book with big pictures in color. It shows jaguars, eagles and Netzahualcoyotl.
Miller, Mary Ellen.
The Art of Mesoamerica from Olmec to Aztec
. New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1991. Very informative about the objects and places with many pictures and a good map of the sites.
Tedlock, Dennis, Trans.
Popol Vuh: The Maya Book of the Dawn of Life
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985. This book describes a very different view on the origin of humankind and the world. The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute has an animated movie available that tells this story. The anirnation is done based on authentic art objects. My students found it fun to watch!