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“Colonial Panama: History and Image” is a monumental work of unquestionable bibliographic value and an obligatory source of reference for the knowledge and understanding of the importance of the isthmus of Panama in the history of the Kingdom of Tierra Firme, from the hispanic era of America.

It consists of 637 pages, with deluxe printing and binding and an iconography of 600 color images. Its hundreds of illustrations are the best kept complement to its historical and cultural purpose. Every detail of writing, printing and formatting has only one purpose: to make the reader vibrate with the same illusion of its author, his love for Panama.

One of its bibliographic values is the use of primary documentary sources. The conceptual scheme is based on the use, study and analysis of one hundred and three documents from the General Archive of the Indies in Seville. A whole team of professional researchers carried out the work of heuristics and hermeneutics.

“Among all these funds, I would undoubtedly highlight those preserved in the General Archive of the Indies in Seville, General Archive of Simancas, National Historical Archive, Cathedral Chapter of Seville, Colombian Library, Ducal Archive of Alba, Pierpont Morgan Library, the School of Hispano-American Studies in Seville, etc., although there are also numerous private contributions that have generously provided me with valuable documentary and cartographic information”.

Pedro Martínez Cutillas.

One hundred and thirty-two basic works of hispanic events were consulted, some by panamanian authors that deal with Panama’s relationship with the spanish empire, in order to give a global perspective of the panamanian isthmus in the strategy of an empire where the sun always illuminated its vast territories.

The royal form is functional with the nature of the book, which allows appreciating the hundreds of maps, plans, manuscripts, drawings, photos, paintings that complement the text with beautiful images. A historical account iconographically captured in which 25 renowned professional photographers participated.

A prominent example is the portrait of Rodrigo de Bastidas, discoverer of Tierra Firme, which was created, expressly for this edition, by the renowned Málaga-based portrait artist and figurative painter, Félix Revello de Toro, to illustrate one of the most significant figures in colonial history and with his exceptional talent and artistic skill, contribute to the understanding of history through art.

“The inclusion of this extraordinary pictorial jewel in our artistic heritage -collection-, a bridge between the literary and the visual, between the past and the present, between those who dreamed it and made it possible, is, for us, synonymous with immense pride and deep emotion”.

Francisco Massó Mora.

Without being a history manual with the classic academic rigidity, “Colonial Panama: History and Image” offers a vision of the panamanian future in a pleasant narration, punctual in its historical appraisals and with a really significant synthesis work.

The first part, dedicated to the conquest, describes the explorations of the Isthmus during the columbian period, the first governorships in Tierra Firme and the South Sea discovery, as well as the platform of territorial expansion that the panamanian base meant once the 16th century was already entered. The relationship with the monarchy, the configuration of the diocese and the kingdom of Panama, the Potosi-Seville circuit, the routes to the South Sea or the attacks of Drake and Morgan will give way to the 18th century, the bourbon reforms and the subordination of the panamanian enclave to the viceroyalty of Nueva Granada. The bitter fight with the english will absorb a new chapter that will tell us about the military defences and the conception and discipline of the armed militias, without forgetting the conflicts of competences between the general command and the four governorates, as well as an analysis of the emergent municipal power, underlining, perhaps as no other author, the role of the church in these different stages.

Monsignor José Dimas Cedeño, metropolitan archbishop of the archdiocese of Panama (1994-2010), stated in the book’s prologue:

“The author has granted throughout his pages, with rigor and objectivity, a great protagonism to the church and the ecclesiastics in the historical evolution of the isthmus. And this, apart from satisfying all believers interested in knowing the process of the Gospel diffusion in American soil, also responds to a rigorous historical truth”.

On March 2, 2007, the year marking the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s death, Pedro Martínez Cutillas presented his work before a select and appreciative audience, beneath the shadow of the main cathedral of Panama La Vieja. There, in this exceptional historical setting, rich with history and symbolism, he wished to announce the creation of an international award inspired by two fundamental aspects of colonial Panama. This prize, open to both national and international authors, would not only offer valuable financial recognition, but also the publication, promotion, and distribution of the winning works within the most influential academic and literary circles.

However, the restless character of Pedro Martínez Cutillas would not be long before he would surprise us again by paying, in his own words, a “heartfelt tribute to the Republic of Panama”, with the publication of another subliminal work that would provide a document of inestimable value for the national history. “Veragua in the 16th century: History and Image”, dedicated to presenting to the historiography of Panama an orderly vision of how the geopolitical configuration of that unknown territory that nowadays constitutes the province of Veraguas was determined throughout the XVI century.

This new and voluminous composition was the product of an intellectual effort, research discipline and coordination with sources of different kinds. In it, he travels the roads of history to take us to Veragua, to tell us its origins and explain how it passed through time since its territory was divided into the Governorate of Veragua, the Duchy of Veragua, the Royal Veragua and the Province of Veragua.

“Veragua in the XVI century: History and Image”, was born as a result of the attraction felt by its author for the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus, especially concerning about the discovery of veraguan coastline, Santa Maria de Belen foundation in 1503, the admiral’s interest in the gold wealth of the area, the indefinition of the geographical space of the province called Veragua, the resistance of the natives to the conquest of their lands and the mining exploitation and the concession of the Duchy of Veragua to Columbus’ descendants.

The book is focused on describing what happened in the Veragua region since Christopher Columbus made his fourth voyage and made known the immense gold riches of this territory until the end of the 16th century, based mainly on the research, transcription and reproduction of a wide range of documentation, letters, royal decrees, capitulations, etc; kept in the main spanish and foreign, state and private archives.

Pedro Martínez Cutillas highlighted the collaboration he received from many experts, whose performance in the localization and transcription was transcendental. Through the illustrations, maps, engravings, canvases, castles, churches and others, the reader, both experts and the general public, is placed in the scenarios of Veraguas history in the 16th century.

Pedro Martínez Cutillas related that while he was reviewing the documentation and images to produce the first book, “Colonial Panama: History and Image”, “new data about Veragua appeared, to the point that this territory of the Isthmus became omnipresent. I soon realized that the historiography of Veragua in the 16th century demanded a special study, and since then the idea of writing a book about this region of the panamanian isthmus never left my mind”.

Today, “Veragua in the 16th century: History and Image” is a reality materialized in 544 pages and dozens of documents and images, many of them of great artistic value and which are unique pieces on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Veragua in the 16th century: History and Image”, like the monograph “Colonial Panama: History and Image”, is in the line of being “an original work that, without departing from scientific rigor, would be accessible to a greater number of readers”.

Based on the above criteria, the edition of the book was conceived on three fundamental elements. First, a solid text based on extensive documentation and written in such a way that it can be easily read. Second, an abundant and original iconography that includes: an extensive cartographic repertoire, a multitude of documents of the period reproduced as facsimiles, canvases, illustrations and a careful photographic selection, made exclusively for this book, and third, a careful edition that has been carefully edited, from the design and layout to the type of paper and the leather binding.

As for its structure, “Veragua in the 16th century: History and Image”, consists of six chapters where the most relevant events are described, but, unlike the previous one, Pedro Martínez Cutillas chose to base the research by providing two new common headings at the end of each chapter: a documentary appendix in which the facsimile reproduction of the most important documents accompanied by their literal transcriptions and an extensive list of footnotes at the end of each chapter, with the intention of not distracting the reader from the story.

His works reveal dedication, debate and above all an unpublished documentation, in which neither time nor resources were spared, reporting, as a whole, a panoramic vision of the panamanian future. Two volumes for his study, meticulous, rigorous, with the added richness of new interpretations and reflections that constitute one of the most outstanding contributions to the national letters of the country.

“History is the discipline of “human self-knowledge […] to know oneself means to know what one can do and since no one knows what he can do until he tries, the only clue to know what man can do is to find out what he has done. The value of history, therefore, consists in the fact that it teaches us what man has done and in that sense what man is”.

R. G Collingwood.

To Pedro Martínez Cutillas, in remembrance to his memory and his indelible legacy.

Francisco Massó Mora.

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