On April 23, 1616, in a house located on Deán Street, in Córdoba, Spain, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega ceased to exist. The distinguished mestizo chronicler was born in Cuzco on April 12, 1539 and prided himself on carrying high Inca and Spanish lineages in his blood. He was then 77 years old and was buried in the chapel that he had acquired in the mosque-cathedral of the city of Cordoba.

In 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, within the framework of the Bicentennial celebrations, published the Complete Works of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in three volumes. This edition, by the historian Carlos Araníbar, brings together all of his intellectual production: the translation of León Hebreo’s Love Dialogues, La Florida del Inca, the two parts of the Royal Commentaries, among others. In the third volume, in addition, the biographical study that the renowned Garcilasista Aurelio Miró Quesada wrote about Inca Garcilaso is added. The texts have been rigorously updated in accordance with the academic guidelines in use in order to facilitate their reading, but without damaging the original document.

The manuscript entitled Nueva crónica y buen gobierno (New chronicle and good governance) that Felipe Huaman Poma de Ayala brought with him to Lima on a long journey from Ayacucho represents one of the most forceful pleas made at the beginning of the 17th century against the Spanish crown to reform the colonial administration in order to improve the appalling conditions in which the Andean people lived. The text, dated 1615 and with nearly 400 illustrations, was addressed to King Philip III of Spain, but never reached him. We do not know the exact circumstances of the journey this remarkable document must have taken, but by 1662, it was already in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was the German Richard Pietschmann who came across the manuscript in 1908, and in 1936, under the direction of Paul Rivet, the Institute of Ethnology in Paris carried out an exhaustive cleaning of the manuscript and delivered it in a facsimile version.
A few years ago, the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú (National Library of Peru) published a new edition in four volumes of work of Huaman Poma, which went out of print immediately. The historian Carlos Araníbar (Lima, 1928-2016) edited the edition. An agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú (National Library of Peru), signed in 2017, now allows for a new edition of the Nueva crónica y buen gobierno (New Chronicle and Good Governance), in three dense volumes, which includes the facsimile version of the original manuscript.

“The Torre Tagle Palace is not only the main headquarters of the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and one of the best examples of civil architecture from centuries ago, but it also symbolizes the best tradition of an institution, such as Peruvian diplomacy, which is at the service to the country since the dawn of our independent life At the same time, the Palace itself and the art collection it houses highlight the close connection of the Ministry with culture and the preservation of artistic heritage.

Through this publication, we seek to highlight the values ​​and principles that are at the base and sustain the work of our institution, which is referred to in the world as Torre Tagle, as well as contribute to the knowledge and dissemination of works of notable value that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conserves with care as a testimony of its deep appreciation for the arts as an expression of Peruvian culture throughout the centuries and a reflection of the contributions of various origins that at different times have influenced it.”

Ana María Sánchez Vargas de Ríos

Download PDF

The Torre Tagle Palace, built in 1736, is one of the most prestigious symbols of the city of Lima. It has been the family residence of the President of the Republic, José Bernardo de Tagle, whose name it bears, and it is a place where important events occurred in the beginning of the Republic. Many years later, as if following a historical destiny, it became the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, with it, the antonomastic name of Peruvian diplomacy. In this house the high interests of our country have been defended, and are constantly being defended, and from it its recognized and indisputable values ​​are projected abroad.