Joseph Gumilla

JOSEPH GUMILLA (Valencia, 1686 - Los Llanos, 1750)
"Historia natural Civil y geográfica De las Naciones situadas en las Riveras del Rio Orinoco". 2 volumes.
Printer: Carlos Gibert. Barcelona, 1791.
With engravings.
In good condition with Spanish paper covers.
Measurements: 21.5 x 15 x 2.5 cm (x2).
Joseph Gumilla was a Jesuit priest known for writing a natural history of the Orinoco River region. In 1705 he left Spain for New Granada (now Colombia) where he studied at the Javeriana University in Bogota. He was ordained a priest in 1714 and went to the Orinoco Mission. In 1701 he went to Venezuela and worked there for 35 years. He was at one time Rector of the College of Cartagena, Provincial Superior of Nueva Granada and Procurator in Rome from 1738. Here he wrote El Orinoco Ilustrado (Madrid, 1741). He returned to South America in 1743 with Filippo Salvatore Gilii. Gumilla introduced coffee in Venezuela in 1732.