New World,” “Dante and the New World,” and “Venetian Diplomacy, Spanish Gold and the New World in the Sixteenth Century.” In “Italy and the New World,” the author emphasizes the importance for the Spaniards of the earlier models of expansion offered by some Italian city-states, as well as some striking practical contributions such as the importance of Italian techniques of cartography, as well as the overriding significance of Marco Polo, an abiding influence upon Columbus. Once the transatlantic settlements had been established, the publishing houses of the various Italian city-states, with their advanced presses, were preeminent in providing both maps and texts concerning the new lands. Chapter 3, arguing for the continuing influence of Dante upon the navigators of the early contact, will surely be a bridge too far for many readers. The following chapter analyzes the long series of reports by Venetian ambassadors working in Spain concerning the economic and political effects of the conquista. The diplomats long held the Spaniards in a sort of contempt for their excessively violent behavior and seem accurately to have reported on the paradox which led to Spain’s bankruptcy while she yet controlled vast supplies of gold and silver. The next part, concerning religious culture, opens with an account of the reports of the Franciscan friars of Bologna, who lived in Mexico. It would seem that on the whole their observations did not lead to any theological innovations; “they poured the new wine of America into the old wineskins of Europe” (p. 85). Chapter 6 then sets out how missionary gifts of indigenous artifacts, brought back to Europe, influenced the way in which Italians came to think of peoples capable of such remarkable ingenium. This admiration would surely have been the reaction of cardinal Federico Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, who was fascinated by the economic and theological implications of the Spanish examples (Chapter 7), and systematically collected information about many different aspects of the New World. Theological influences in Italy from across the Atlantic are described in Chapters 8 and 9, concerning the Virgin of Copacabana (whose influence did not long survive) and the later martyrdom of certain Jesuits, whose violent fate long remained a powerful influence. Chapters 10, 11, and 12 concern “New World plants in the Italian imagination.” This theme is approached literally in Chapter 11, which explains that while clearly recognizable plants like beans and pepper were easily accepted and absorbed, plants like maize, tomatoes, and potatoes took much longer for acceptance. Perhaps in the case of the potato, this was because the climate of Italy, drier than that of northern Europe, was not suited to it. The final four chapters, 13 to 16, are called “Representing America,” in books and on the stage. Chapter 13 explains how “late sixteenth-century Bologna was fascinated by the New World” and housed the polymath Ulisse Alvardondi, who used his great collection of books, culled from all over Europe, to generate images of people of the New World. Chapter 14 accounts for the imagery of Cesare Vecellio of Venice, relating his work to the more familiar work of figures like John White and Theodor de Bry. The last two chapters concern the figure of Christopher Columbus in sixteenth-century Italian poetry, and the significance of Vivaldi’s choice of Motezuma for his opera; the latter chapter has as its running head the unfortunately truncated heading “The conquest of Mexico in the Venetian operatic.” In general, the powerful effect of this work is to draw out the many ways in which the Italian city-states were involved in the expansion of European power across the Atlantic. Clearly, the Atlantic-facing states had a great geographical advantage, but this book shows that it would be a mistake to conclude that the Italians were therefore excluded from the New World and from its study.

中文翻译：

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早期英语旅行写作中的希腊，1596-1682

新世界”、“但丁与新世界”和“威尼斯外交、西班牙黄金与 16 世纪的新世界”。在“意大利和新世界”中，作者强调了一些意大利城邦提供的早期扩张模式对西班牙人的重要性，以及一些引人注目的实际贡献，例如意大利制图技术的重要性，以及作为马可波罗的压倒一切的意义，对哥伦布的持久影响。一旦跨大西洋定居点建立起来，意大利各个城邦的出版社及其先进的印刷机就在提供有关新土地的地图和文本方面处于领先地位。第 3 章论证但丁对早期接触的航海家的持续影响，对于许多读者来说肯定是一个过头的桥梁。下一章分析了在西班牙工作的威尼斯大使关于征服的经济和政治影响的长系列报告。长期以来，外交官们对西班牙人的过度暴力行为抱有一种蔑视，他们似乎准确地报道了导致西班牙破产的悖论，而西班牙却控制着大量的黄金和白银供应。下一部分，关于宗教文化，以居住在墨西哥的博洛尼亚方济各会修士的报告开始。似乎总的来说，他们的观察并没有导致任何神学创新；“他们将美国的新酒倒入欧洲的旧酒袋中”（第 85 页）。然后第 6 章阐述了传教士礼物如何将本土文物带回欧洲，影响了意大利人对具有如此非凡创造力的民族的看法。这种钦佩肯定是米兰大主教费德里科博罗梅奥红衣主教的反应，他对西班牙例子的经济和神学影响着迷（第 7 章），并系统地收集了有关新世界许多不同方面的信息。来自大西洋彼岸的意大利神学影响在第 8 章和第 9 章中描述，涉及科帕卡巴纳圣母（其影响力没有长期存在）和某些耶稣会士后来的殉难，他们的暴力命运长期保持着强大的影响力。第 10、11 和 12 章涉及“意大利想象中的新世界植物”。这个主题在第 11 章中逐字地接近，这解释了，虽然豆类和胡椒等明显可识别的植物很容易被接受和吸收，但玉米、西红柿和土豆等植物需要更长的时间才能被接受。也许就马铃薯而言，这是因为意大利的气候比北欧干燥，不适合它。最后四章，13 到 16，在书籍和舞台上被称为“代表美国”。第 13 章解释了“16 世纪晚期的博洛尼亚如何对新世界着迷”，并为博学多才的乌利塞·阿尔瓦东迪 (Ulisse Alvardondi) 提供住所，他利用从欧洲各地挑选的大量书籍来制作新世界人物的图像。第 14 章介绍了威尼斯的 Cesare Vecellio 的图像，将他的作品与更熟悉的人物如约翰怀特和西奥多德布赖的作品联系起来。最后两章讲述了 16 世纪意大利诗歌中克里斯托弗·哥伦布的形象，以及维瓦尔第选择 Motezuma 作为他的歌剧的意义；后一章的标题不幸被截断了“威尼斯歌剧中对墨西哥的征服”。总的来说，这项工作的强大效果是描绘了意大利城邦参与欧洲势力跨大西洋扩张的多种方式。显然，面向大西洋的国家具有巨大的地理优势，但本书表明，因此得出意大利人被排除在新世界及其研究之外的结论是错误的。后一章的标题不幸被截断了“威尼斯歌剧中对墨西哥的征服”。总的来说，这项工作的强大效果是描绘了意大利城邦参与欧洲势力跨大西洋扩张的多种方式。显然，面向大西洋的国家具有巨大的地理优势，但本书表明，因此得出意大利人被排除在新世界及其研究之外的结论是错误的。后一章的标题不幸被截断了“威尼斯歌剧中对墨西哥的征服”。总的来说，这项工作的强大效果是描绘了意大利城邦参与欧洲势力跨大西洋扩张的多种方式。显然，面向大西洋的国家具有巨大的地理优势，但本书表明，因此得出意大利人被排除在新世界及其研究之外的结论是错误的。