The Broadway Travellers: Hans Staden: The True History of His Captivity, 1557. Adventures of a German gunner among the cannibals of Brazil.

Letts, Malcolm (Translator). The Broadway Travellers: Hans Staden: The True History of His Captivity, 1557. Adventures of a German gunner among the cannibals of Brazil. London: George Routledge & Sons, Ltd., 1928. Reprint. Quarto. XX, 191, [1]pp. Original decorative wrappers over red cloth, with printer’s device on front cover of wrappers, on spine of binding and title-page. Title-page in red and black lettering within elaborate frame. Fascinating work being an account of Hans Staden’s captivity among cannibals. This book provids detailed descriptions of Tupinambá life and customs, illustrated by woodcuts. However, the aspect of this work that received the most attention, from the time of publication up to the present, was cannibalism. Staden claimed that the Tupinambá were cannibals, gave vivid eyewitness accounts of the killing, preparing and eating of war captives. According to one anecdote, the Indians at one point gave him a delicious soup; after finishing his dinner, he found in the bottom of the cauldron some small skulls, which he later found out to be those of the children in his choir. Some scholars have challenged the book’s reliability, arguing that Staden invented its sensational accounts of cannibalism. Others defend the book as an important and reliable ethnohistorical source. Head and tail of wrappers slightly chipped. Scarce and sporadic foxing throughout. Wrappers in overall fair to good, binding and interior in very good condition. vg. Hardcover. (25402) $45